


A Torchwood Christmas Carol

by RoadrunnerGER



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Adventure, Angst, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-26
Packaged: 2018-01-05 08:13:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1091638
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoadrunnerGER/pseuds/RoadrunnerGER
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You'll be haunted by three spirits," the apparition told Jack... Captain Jack gets scrooged.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A long awaited encounter

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the Torchwood Christmas Special. It's "A Torchwood Christmas Carol", featuring Captain Jack Harkness as Scrooge! Meet all your favourite characters, old friends and new enemies in this adaptation of Charles Dickens's Christmas classic.
> 
> As I misunderstood the "edit publication date" feature of this site, I wondered each time I posted a chapter why my work didn't show up between the recent stories... ooops! LOL I wrote this in 2008 and thought you'd enjoy it here and now as well. Feedback would still be great and very much appreciated. Thank you, and Merry Christmas! Enjoy!

  Captain Jack Harkness was not as dead as a doornail: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that.

  Since his escape from the future he encountered many deaths, but not one ever lasted, so whatever was particularly dead about a doornail, it could not be applied to Captain Jack Harkness.

  As it happened that the device that brought him to the planet Earth of the year 1869 of its supposed superior inhabitants called human race did not work anymore, Captain Jack was stranded there with no way to get back to where he came from or to contact the one who had been there with him.

  And time was passing.

  Time.

  Time was relative.

  Time was said to flow and could be measured in different units.

  Time was supposed to be a straight thing.

  Time was divided in past, present and future.

  Time was a constant in the universe.

  Time was fragile.

  _What happens when the effect exists before the cause?_

  Time should never lead to a paradox.

  Time passing could be perceived in different ways.

  This was a day of the year 2007 that did not seem to pass at all. While some people hurried around, going shopping or preparing a business meeting, feeling like time would fly, it would not pass for others.

  Captain Jack Harkness slumped into the chair at the head end of the table after their debriefing.

  He was exhausted.

  And he was one of those who thought this day would never end.

  When the rift-alert sounded they were one man short because Owen still was at the hospital at that time, recovering from his fight with the weevil in the combat cage. So each of them had to give everything to keep the Millenium Bugs in check that came through the rift in a whole swarm. Jack called their species Millenium Bugs since he fought one on New Year’s Eve 1999 to 2000. He remembered that night like it was yesterday. _Hey,_ he had shouted, coming in through the cog door. _When you joked about the Millennium Bug, I didn't realise it was gonna have 18 legs stacked with poison. Anyone home? Hey! You know you're supposed to party like it's..._ The words had died in his throat and not a minute later Alex was dead and Jack the heir of Torchwood Cardiff.

  That New Year’s Eve had been one of the nights that had put him off parties of any kind. Jack knew how to enjoy himself but major events like New Year’s Eve, Easter, or Christmas, feasts he never experienced while growing up, held no attraction for him. He knew that they were the most important holidays of the people he was living among, but he never had been part of them.

  Back when he was young Jack knew other holidays, so he could understand what fascinated the others about them, but the traditions and religions they celebrated were not his own. As Jack never got involved with someone so close that he would be made a part of the feast he had no emotional connection to them.

  So he was happy for his team members that they enjoyed the holidays and happy with himself as long as he was left alone.

  Jack was so bloody tired and that was not only due to fighting the Millenium Bugs. He was tired in a more universal sense. Whenever a major holiday approached he became tired of his own existence. Being forced to live on when he had to let go of anyone he cared for was torture for him. So he withdrew to the point that he hurt others with it. But he remained oblivious, so the behaviour continued year after year.

  The proximity alarm sounded and the cog door rolled open to let Owen in. Everyone looked round in surprise. None of them had expected to see him so soon at the Hub but they still greeted him affectionately. Well, at least the girls showed their affection, Gwen running up to him and pulling him into a bear hug that made him wince and Toshiko beaming up at him from her workstation, offering him to order him some of his favourite takeaway or coffee.

  Coffee was Ianto’s cue.

  The young Welshman appeared on top of the stairs leading to the kitchen area. Searching Owen’s gaze he held up a big mug and raised his eyebrows questioningly. Owen nodded appreciatively and Ianto went to pour him a cup.

  Jack had watched the scene standing with his arms crossed over his chest at the glass walls of the board room. His abrasive posture was something he assumed subconsciously. Even though he knew how to use his charms or his scary side to achieve what he wanted in the field he seldom could bring himself to show his true emotions.

  Still that did not mean that he had no emotions.

  Jack had deep and powerful feelings. Unfortunately he had learned that he had to control them. So he dealt only superficially with any kind of relationship. His exuberant behaviour mostly was cursory.

  Now he saw Ianto and Owen go down to the vaults. He had an uneasy feeling that Owen intended to go to the cages where Janet, their resident weevil, was locked up. _Maybe he needs that confrontation,_ Jack thought. _He’s in so much emotional pain. I can understand why he tried to extinguish it by fighting with a weevil. I shouldn’t have sent him undercover into that fight club, but he was the only one they did not know yet._

  Owen had lost the woman he loved. Again.

  Jack knew how that felt. He knew it only too well. He never wanted to experience it again.

  Toshiko settled back down at her workstation and Gwen sank into the sofa diagonally behind her. Jack saw them talk and joke with each other. Ianto emerged from the vaults and joined them. They seemed to have a lot of fun.

  Jack yearned to be with them, but he did not allow himself that luxury. As much as he loved them as much did he know that he should not get too closely attached. It was an oxymoron. Jack could not explain it, but even though he felt drawn to his team he also felt an overpowering urge to avoid them.

  He did not know how much time he had left with them. He had to prepare them for the fight he knew lay ahead of them. Because it was likely that he would not be here anymore when the time came to fight.

  Jack had waited for so long. The man he waited for could arrive any day now. And when he came he would go with him.

  Once more Jack’s gaze was drawn to his team. Owen was back from the vaults now and they all sat together, joking and laughing. Graciously Ianto rose from his seat and went over to the spiral staircase. He came up to the catwalk and Jack knew where he was headed. A few seconds later Ianto entered the board room.

  “You coming downstairs?” he asked. “You’re obviously not busy, so you have no excuse this time.”

  “I don’t feel like socializing,” Jack said.

  “I’ll make us coffee,” Ianto offered. “Industrial strength.”

  That was an offer he could not withstand. “Thanks, Ianto. I’ll be with you in a few minutes, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Ianto left and, after standing and watching for a short while longer, Jack left the board room to join his team.

  “What are your plans for tomorrow?” Gwen asked, looking at Tosh, but directing her question to all of her co-workers.

  “I’ll go and visit my mom and tad,” Ianto said.

  “I’m invited to a Christmas party,” Tosh told them. “Former fellow student invited me. I met her at the supermarket. It’s funny. I haven’t seen her for years, but we could still talk just like the old days. So I’ll go, I think.”

  “I’m going to celebrate with Rhys and his family,” Gwen told them. “What about you, Owen?”

  “Nothing special,” the doctor grumbled. “Meet with a friend, I guess.”

  “Jack?”

  _She’s not nosy, is she?_ Jack thought. “I’ll keep an eye on the Rift,” he said.

  “Oh, really? You’re not serious, are you?” Gwen said heatedly. “I thought Ianto invited you to come with him, to his family.”

  Ianto blushed crimson red. Jack could see the blood rise in his cheeks. The truth was that Ianto had wanted to ask Jack to accompany him, but did not know how and shied back from doing it, so this was the first Jack had heard about the offer.

  He was stunned.

  He never doubted that they cared for him. He knew they did. It had just never occurred to him that any of them would want to invite him to come along for something special like a Christmas dinner. To Jack’s mind those were occasions usually reserved solely for their family, and probably closest friends, and although he got on well with all of his team, he would never have thought to include himself in that category.

  “We could still have our own Christmas party here,” Gwen suggested. “Each of us brings something to eat, we order something in addition, and then we’ll have a good time together before we go to our respective parties.”

  “Speak for yourself, PC Cooper,” Owen grumbled. “As long as there’s no Rift alert tomorrow, I’ll be out of here as soon as I can.”

  “Oh, c’mon, Owen. It could be fun! And Jack wouldn’t sit down here all on his own.”

  “Maybe Jack prefers to be alone,” Jack threw in. “You’ll go ahead and have a good time and I’ll take care of the Rift. I guarded it alone for several years before I hired Suzie, so I’ll manage for one night.”

  When he looked around from one to the other to seek their confirmation his gaze also met Ianto’s and he stopped.

  The Welshman’s blue eyes were full of concern and Jack was not sure what to make of that.

  “Okay, kids. Everything’s silent tonight. Why don’t you just go home? Christmas time’s a busy time. C’mon. Go!”

  And while the others reluctantly left the Hub to go home to boyfriend, parents or Christmas party, Jack stayed behind in his office. He was doing paperwork until the words started to swim before his eyes. Deciding he needed a break Jack went out into the central Hub and to the storage where Ianto kept Myfanwy’s food. Jack called the pterodactyl and she flew down to him from her nest. Perching on the handrail of the catwalk she devoured her dinner and enjoyed some of Jack’s petting before she took off again. After a glance at his watch Jack decided that at that time the chances of being seen rising from the Plass were slim and so he opened the hatch. Myfanwy shrieked once before she vanished in the night’s sky.

  “Merry Christmas,” Jack grumbled to himself, not being in Christmas mood at all.

  When he went down the walkway to return to his office his attention got caught by bubbling sounds and when Jack searched for the source he spotted the jar with the Doctor’s hand.

  The liquid inside seemed to boil.

  “Doctor?” Jack asked tentatively, looking around the Hub. Then he darted to Toshiko’s workstation, checking on the CCTV, but he could not find the TARDIS. If the Doctor really was there, and the reaction of his hand was any indication that he was, then the blue police box should stand right in front of the water tower.

  But it was not there.

  And when Jack looked at the jar again the bubbling had ceased. Had it ever really bubbled? Or had it just been his overactive imagination; fuelled by not enough sleep and, although he would never admit it, the desire to be with people he felt truly close to?

  Pouting Jack slumped into Toshiko’s chair. This just was not fair. He waited for so long and now all he got was a false alarm.

  “It’s not fair!” Jack yelled at the empty Hub as he jumped up from the chair. He dropped his voice to barely above a whisper, “It’s not fair.”

  Tired from the struggle with his emotions rather than from his actual day’s work Jack returned to his office from where he climbed down through the hatch to his quarters. Still dressed like he was, Jack dropped down on the bed. Before he could even remove his shoes, he was fast asleep.

 

xXx

 

  A deafening, grinding sound woke Jack not much later. Thrown back by the Hub’s walls the Tardis’s whine even intensified. Did the ship land _inside_ the Hub?

  Almost trembling with anxiety and excitement Jack jumped out of his bed and up the ladder into his office. Looking around he realized that he was mistaken. The Tardis was nowhere to be seen. Once more he went to check the CCTV. Nothing on the Plass either.

  “I must be going mad. Hallucinating,” Jack murmured to himself. “I’m seeing and hearing the Tardis when it’s nowhere to be seen.”

  That was when he heard a pretty unfamiliar voice, “Can’t you see me, Captain?”

  Jack spun around, automatically reaching for his gun that was not on his hip right now, but wherever he turned, he could not see the voice’s origin.

  “No!”

  “Then… never mind…”

  Jack heard him rummage around and the clatter of tools, then a whine from the Tardis.

  “C’mon! Don’t be that stubborn!”

  And suddenly the Doctor appeared right in the middle of the Hub.

  “Doctor!” Jack screamed happily, his voice breaking with joy, and ran down the spiral staircase, fully intending to slam into the Time Lord and hug him.

  But he ran right through the Doctor. When his run was stopped by the railing on the walkway over the tidal basin Jack looked around in confusion.

  “Doctor?”

  “Well, I take it you can now see me,” the Time Lord told him in his typical laconic way. “I’m just a projection, Jack.”

  Still Jack stared at him in disbelieve and shock. It had to be the Doctor, because he came with the Tardis, and who else with a Tardis would know his name and rank, but he did not recognize his beloved friend and mentor in the man he saw standing there.

  Tilting his head to the side the Doctor looked Jack over from head to toe.

  “Oh!” he suddenly shouted. “Oh, I know… the hair, the suit… you don’t recognize me, right?”

  Jack shook his head.

  “Ah… long story, Rose absorbed the energy of the Time Vortex. That amount of energy running through her head… it should have killed her. I saved her.”

  “But…?”

  “It killed me instead,” the Doctor said cheerfully, grinning in an extremely self-satisfied way. “That’s why I regenerated.” He paused. “Actually, that wasn’t very long was it? Quite a short story now I come to think about it.”

  Mischievously the Doctor grinned at Jack. “Nice place do you have here.”

  “Thanks.”

  The Doctor caught sight of the logo on the wall and frowned. “Torchwood? You work for the people who designated their lives to capture me?”

  “We’re different from Torchwood London. I set this up in your name, in your honour.”

  The Doctor still looked sceptical.

  “So, if you’re an projection… where are you? Can I come with you now?” Jack asked hopefully.

  “Sorry, no, you can’t.”

  “Why not!” Jack blurted out heatedly. “That’s why I waited all those years! Do you even know how long it’s been for me? Waiting to find you so that I could get back among the stars! Back where I belong.”

  With anticipation he stared at the Doctor. This was the long awaited encounter. This was what he had waited for since he arrived on Earth in 1869.

    The Time Lord regarded him thoughtfully. “Do you really think that the stars are where you belong?” he demanded quietly. “Jack?”

  Jack’s features crumbled, then he stuttered, “Wh-what did I do, Doc? D-don’t you w-want me?”

  The Doctor shook his head gently, his expression filled with pity. “The time’s not ripe for our reunion yet,” the Doctor said. “I’m just here to talk to you.”

  “What about? Why did you even bother if you don’t want to take me with you?” Jack snapped, clearly hurt by being rejected. “I’ve waited so long to get back to you… and the Tardis. Why torture me by turning up and not taking me with you?”

  Eyeing Jack carefully the Doctor thought about his next move.

  “Loneliness,” he then said. “You’ve lived all those years without love. You denied yourself to get attached. That’s not healthy.”

  “You think I didn’t love?” Jack said with a laugh.

  “You demand love, Jack. I know that you could have had love… several times. But you chose to suffer on your own. Trust me, I know what I’m talking about. Before I met Rose… I’d been alone for so long. I thought that was what I wanted, what I deserved, but I was wrong. Loneliness is a curse. The curse of those who will live forever. I’m here for your sake so you still have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate.”

  “You were always a good friend to me,” Jack said with a hint of bitterness in his tone. “For as long as it lasted. Until Satellite Five.”

  “You will be haunted,” resumed the Doctor as if he did not hear Jack’s jibe, “by Three Spirits.”

  Jack frowned at him deeply.

  “Is that the chance and hope you mentioned, Doc?” he demanded to know.

  “It is.”

  “You know, Doc… that reminds me of something.”

  “Oh, really?” the Doctor faked astonishment. Thoughtfully he put his right index finger over his pouting lips as he propped the elbow up on his left arm that he crossed over his chest. Out of narrowed eyes he looked at Jack. “What could that be?”

  “Charles Dickens’s Christmas Carol.”

  Now the Doctor really pouted.

  “How could you, Jack?” he complained, pushing his fists on his hips. “Ruin my surprise? Okay, it wasn’t exclusively my idea…” he started pacing the walkway over the basin, “but I usually make good use of other’s ideas. I do, don’t I?”

  “It wasn’t as thrilling as switching my gun with a banana,” Jack teased, “in a life or death situation.”

  “Technicalities,” the Doctor grumbled. “Now where was I, what was I saying? You shouldn’t always confuse me!”

  “You really want me to confuse you?” Jack taunted with a lascivious grin that had gotten many partner, male and female, into his bed.

  “Is this really the time? Honestly, you’d flirt with a cardboard box if there was no-one else, wouldn’t you?” Frowning deeply the Doctor crossed his arms over his chest. “Don’t confuse sex with love, Jack. Sex is empty physical exchange without emotions necessary. Don’t forget that love is essential and with that,” he raised his index finger in a professor like manner, “I’m back to what I wanted to say!” He grinned and cheered, “The three spirits, Dickens or not, Ghosts or real, I have no idea, but what is really important is that without their visits…”

  “I’ll do what, Doc? Die?” Jack scowled. “I mean that’s what the ghost in the story threat…”

  “There are worse things than death,” the Doctor said quietly. “You of all people should know that.”

  Oh, yeah. Jack knew only too well that that was true. His mind threw him back in time, remembering events he had to endure and his throat corded up with emotional pain.

  “Insanity, Jack, is a pretty nasty thing.”

  The Doctor said that as if he was talking about having a flu, but Jack suspected that he was deadly serious. You just never really knew with the Time Lord.

  “Anyway,” the Doctor said and his image flickered. He fumbled around with his sonic screwdriver and the projection stabilized again. “Expect the first tomorrow when the clock strikes one.”

  “Why don’t they come all together?” Jack asked. “Do you know them? Are they nice? We could get to know us better…”

  “Jack!” scolded the Doctor, knowing only too well where the former time agent’s thoughts were leading. “Stop it!”

  “What? What did I say?”

  “Expect the second tomorrow when the clock strikes one.”

  “Didn’t you just say that they wouldn’t come at the same time?” Jack chuckled.

  “You of all people should know that time is relative, Jack,” the Doctor told him. “Still no one wants to waste it, right? Though it’s actually not possible to waste it as you can measure but not can it, so…”

  “Doc!” Jack tried to interrupt him. The Time Lord lost track of his speech again.

  “…as you can neither stop nor speed it up there’s also no way to waste it.” He grinned manically at Jack. “As little as you can save it.”

  “So the third one will come at one, too?” Jack mused, sparing the Time Lord the effort of elaborating further and flashing one of his dazzling smiles at the Doctor.

  “Yes!” the Doctor shouted, grinning excitedly and punching his right fist into his left palm as he spun around his axis. “The candidate has one hundred points.”

  _So now we’re in a quiz show?_ That thought led him back to television which led him to the game station hosted on Satellite Five and the attack of the Daleks. After that battle he never was the same again… and he was abandoned. Finding himself alone among numerous corpses and heaps of Dalek dust was not what he considered to be extremely funny.

  “What happened to me, Doc?” Jack asked, accusingly.

  “I’m sorry. I can’t tell you.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t tell me?!” Jack demanded, his voice rising with anger. “Doctor! What happened up there? What happened on Satellite Five?”

  “I will tell you. When you’ll go with me.” A smirk snuck back on his features. “Soon the time’s ripe and you’ll come with me! We’ll be back in Cardiff, fuel the old girl up and off we’ll go!” he intoned, his gaze prodding Jack to join.

  “Into time,” the captain said lamely.

  “And space!” the Doctor finished with enthusiasm. “Oh, c’mon, Jack. You’re not as much fun as you used to be. So my old friend Charles was right.”

  “Don’t tell me you knew Dickens!”

  “Did I say that? Didn’t I?” He chuckled. “Anyway, it’s time for me to go. Energy’s running low. The transmission won’t last for long now, so I’ll better…”

  His image flickered again and vanished.

  “Go?” Jack mused. “Say goodbye?”

  Several minutes later he still stared at the spot where the apparition of the Doctor had been. Was it a trick his mind was playing him? Had it been real?

  Jack shivered and did not know why. He was not cold. He was not scared. No need to shiver, actually.

  Then he realized what made him so agitated.

  Rose!

  He swallowed a sudden lump in his throat.

  _I should’ve asked him about Rose._ _I’m sure he’d know what happened to her during the_ _Battle of Canary Wharf_ _. He’d know how she died._ _Oh, Rose!_

  Grief tightened his chest. He had not known Rose and the Doctor for very long, but they became two of the most important people in his life. They had changed him… to the better as he believed.

  _Without them I wouldn’t have ended up here. I wouldn’t have worked for Torchwood. I wouldn’t have rebuilt it. I wouldn’t know Tosh and Owen, Gwen and Ianto… Ianto…_

  For a moment he closed his eyes and tried to chase his anxiety away.

  _It must’ve been a bad dream. A waking nightmare._

  Regaining his senses he went back to his office and climbed down the ladder. His bed was cold and vacant when he slid under the covers, but it was his own. It gave him all the comfort he could get and it had to be enough.

 

tbc…


	2. The first of the three spirits

  It had not been enough comfort. A single blanket never was enough, no matter how soft it was. So Jack returned to his office. Alone in the Hub, Jack did not know exactly what he should do with himself. His nerves were too shaken to do more paperwork and with everyone gone he had no one to talk with. There was not a single alert and Myfanwy was not back yet from her nightly flight.

  _Jack, you’re pathetic,_ he thought to himself as he retreated to his office.

  Slumping into his big office chair behind his desk, he got a metal box out and opened it. It contained a stack of photos, some of them so old that they started to fade. Others were newer and a few were modern, from within the past couple of years.

  In whatever state they were, Jack actually did not need them to remember the people they were showing. The people he left because they loved him… and he loved them back. He could not afford love.

  Getting annoyed by staring at the reminders of his past, Jack threw the photos back in the box and put it away.

  “Damn it, Doctor!” he cursed to himself. “You were supposed to show up for fuelling the Tardis on the Rift and take me with you! You were _not_ supposed to send me odd messages and babble about spirits coming to haunt me! We’re not in Dickens’s novel! We’re in Cardiff!”

  Right now his chamber did not appear to be a refuge rather than a hiding place. It did not feel comfortable and so Jack stayed where he was. Still without boots and with loosened braces, he could also relax in the office chair. Exhausted by his fight with the Millennium Bugs and paperwork but left too agitated by the Doctor’s visit, he leaned back and tried to get order in his thoughts. Jack had thought that he would not be able to rest, but before he even knew it he fell asleep in his chair.

  In his dreams, he found himself at a place he had not seen for a very long time, not even when sleep took him back to long lost or buried memories.

  Fresh air washed over his face, carrying the scent of the sea. Deep did he inhale the salty breeze, revelling in the moment. The sun was shining, dipping the seemingly endless beach into bright light. In the distance, right on the shore, was a peculiar agglomeration of buildings, not unlike a termite hill. Feeling the warm sand under his bare feet made Jack feel at home.

  And then he realized that he was home. This was Boeshane, the Boeshane Peninsula, his home in the 51st century.

  Jack shuddered in his sleep. Still caught in his dream he could not check on his watch. Its hands steadily changed their positions precisely like they were supposed to do and switched onto one minute to one in the morning.

  The beach in Jack’s dream stretched wide along the ocean’s shore. Sea birds were squawking above him and a few gulls were gliding on the fresh breeze. The dunes were covered by patches of weed swaying in the wind. It was such a peaceful day.

  Someone called his name.

  So Jack turned around to see who was addressing him, just to face a boy in light cotton clothes in sun bleached sandy tones. Dark curly hair covered his head. And his eyes… oh, those eyes…

  Accusatorily they looked up at Jack. That startled Jack back into awareness. The beach faded into the background, making room for only the boy.

  “Gray?” Jack panted in disbelief, puzzled, as the grandfather’s clock in the corner of his office struck one.

  “Hello, big brother,” the boy said, confirming Jack’s suspicion.

  “Gray!”

  Catapulting himself out of the chair, Jack reached out for his younger brother, but Gray stepped aside quickly and Jack hit the floor with a thud. He looked up at the boy beside him indignantly.

  “Don’t tell me that hurt,” Gray grumbled. “That’s nothing compared to what I went through. You didn’t think that the invaders would spare me just because I’m little? They didn’t.”

  Jack’s look changed to one of trepidation. He knew what was coming. Now he would find out what happened on that fateful day on the beach.

  “Run, Dad said. Take Gray. Keep him safe.” Gray’s face was a mask of his pain caused by betrayal. “When you let go of my hand they had a walk-over. They took me.”

  Jack remembered. _No, no, Dad._ _Come with us._ He choked on unshed tears.

  “I’m sorry, Gray. I… One minute, I was holding your hand… I don’t know when you let go. I didn’t notice. I thought you were there, just behind me… but you weren’t.” His voice failed him. “I… was searching for you, shouting for you over and over again. I retraced my steps, hoping to find you. I ran all the way home.”

  “Those creatures,” Gray spat, “they lived to torture. They kept us just on the verge of life. I’d lie there, hemmed in by corpses, praying to become one. Because you... let go... of my hand, remember?”

  Now tears were streaming over Jack’s face. “You’re right. I let go of your hand!” he sobbed. “It was the worst day of my life!”

  “I believed you’d come, but you never did. How long before you gave up, hm? Months? Years? Decades?”

  “I searched for you for years.”

  “And now I have found you.” The boy’s voice was harsh. “I take it that the Doctor announced my appearance.”

  “You’re one of the three spirits?” Jack asked incredulously.

  “Yes, I am.” He scowled at Jack darkly and growled, “I’d rather you’d go straight to hell.”

  “But?” Jack murmured hesitantly.

  “But you’ll get that chance to change. I don’t have to like you to do what has to be done.”

  Jack could hardly see Gray through the veil of tears in his eyes. Blinking a few times rapidly, he cleared his sight and gasped. The boy standing over him looked exactly like Jack remembered him, with the light sandy clothes, the dark curls and the dark brown eyes.

  The latter looked at him accusingly and Jack lowered his gaze under their intensity. It was his fault that Gray had been taken. He let go of his hand. All he had had to do was to hold his little brother’s hand and pull him to safety. But he let him down.

  Shame coloured Jack’s cheeks. It was inexcusable. If only he could change it… but maybe he could?

  “Is that why you are here now?” he asked, his voice hoarse. “The Doctor spoke about a chance to change and rescue. Can I go and save you now?”

  “No,” Gray destroyed Jack’s hopes.

  “Then why are you here?”

  Gray looked him over from head to toe. How he crouched on the floor, gazing up at him pleadingly Jack offered a pitiful sight.

  “Take my hand,” Gray told him, extending his right hand. “Don’t let go.”

  _Not for the life of me,_ Jack thought and reached for the offered hand, grasping it firmly.

  At once Jack’s world began to spin rapidly, pulling him into a maelstrom that threatened to suffocate him. Jack could not see Gray in the whirling energy that reminded him of the time vortex, but he could feel his hand in his own that threatened to be pulled out of his grasp. Clinging to it as strongly as he could, Jack hoped that the twirling would end soon.

  Then he was thrown to the ground and hit it painfully. His arm was twisted as he refused to let go of Gray’s hand. Jack groaned. It felt as if he dislocated the limb.

  “You should’ve done that back on Boeshane,” Gray whispered menacingly and pulled his big brother to his feet. He was surprisingly strong for his size. Gray appeared to be the little boy of eight years Jack had lost when he was twelve, but he had some disturbing qualities on himself.

  Slowly regaining his senses, Jack looked around and found himself in a familiar house.

  “Mom?” he blurted out, rushing toward the woman standing by the stove and running right through her. “What?” Confused he looked at her and at himself, then at Gray.

  “Didn’t I tell you that they won’t be able to see us?” his brother taunted. “Poor Jack.”

  Surprised, Jack looked at his brother as he called him by his new name.

  “Dad!”

  Jack was rendered speechless and that happened quite rarely.

_Behind his father two boys entered the room, Gray and he himself. Gray ran to the sink and opened the tap to hold his hands under the stream of water while Jack’s younger self pulled back a chair to sit at the kitchen table._

_“Hey, young man!” his mother shouted. “Don’t you forget something?”_

_So he dutifully stepped to the sink and drew a little water for his hands._

_“They’re clean now, Mom!” he shouted and sat down beside his brother._

_“Yeah, sure, sweetheart,” his mother teased and put the bowls of foot on the table. “Here we go.”_

_She sat down with them and they started their meal with their father taking a portion first, then mom serving the kids before she helped herself to her dinner._

_“Mom?” Gray said. “Why don’t we celebrate Christmas?”_

_“That’s an old Christian holiday we simply don’t celebrate,” their father told him. “We already had that discussion.”_

_“But Ranga told us that what is most important about Christmas is the that the family is together, that you honour it,” Gray pouted. “You always say that family is sacred.”_

_“Yes, Gray, that is true, but it still is different.”_

_“Why? Can’t we have a family party when the Christians celebrate Christmas?”_

_“Why should we comply with the customs of a minority?” their father asked in an amused tone._

  “You were so insistent, Gray” Jack said. “You shouldn’t have annoyed Dad.”

  “That’s what you’re saying now, Jack?”

  “Well, what good would it…?”

  Jack’s words died in his throat as he heard his younger self say, _“Gray is right, Dad. Mom? It would be so nice to have a holiday to celebrate.”_

_“And it would have nothing to do with you two getting presents, huh?” their father said._

_“No, sir,” both boys replied at the same time._

_“I tend not to believe that,” he chuckled and their mother smiled lovingly._

  “You thought differently back then,” Gray said. “You’ve lost your ability to enjoy the simple things.”

  “That’s not true!”

  “Yes, it is, and I’ll show you. Take my hand… and **don’t** let go!”

  Jack did not want to leave. Longingly he looked at their parents and the peaceful scene around the kitchen table before he grabbed Gray’s hand and was pulled back into the vortex. When the spinning stopped and he was able to draw a steadying breath again, Jack was trembling. Hesitantly he looked up and found himself standing in the living room of a tiny apartment. At first he did not know where he was, but then he heard a tower bell and darted to the window.

  “Big Ben!” he panted. “We’re in London!”

  “What’s so exciting about London?” Gray wanted to know.

  “I don’t know…” Jack really was not sure. London should be as good or as bad as any place he ever was and still he felt a little more like home here. For a moment he watched the passer-bys down on the street. Judging by their clothes fashion they were in the early 20th century. In the 40s to be exact, Jack noticed when he spotted an advertisement. And suddenly he knew where he was.

  Hearing the key turn in the lock he spun around.

_“Jack?” a young female voice called out. “Jack!”_

  Jack recognized the voice, but even though he knew whose apartment this was he could not remember having been there. Slowly he walked toward the voice when suddenly a black lighting darted past him.

_“Hello, Jack,” the young woman in the hall greeted the black cat sitting to her feet._

  _Meow!_

_“Yes, darling, I know you’re hungry.” Smiling at her pet she went to the kitchen and put some food on a plate that she sat down in front of the cat._

  “She’s calling her cat Jack?”

  “Yes, she does,” Gray said. “And it’s all the more sad because the cat is female.”

  “Then why call her Jack?”

  “Because you,” he poked his finger in the captain’s chest, “where not there to celebrate Christmas with her!”

  “That was not my fault!” Jack shouted angrily. He looked back at the young woman, seventeen years old, in her second year away from home, who now sat on the sofa. Her dark hair was pinned up in a big roll on the back of her head and she smiled sadly at the cat in her lap.

_“Oh, Jack. I know you didn’t have a choice, but what would I give if you could be here now.” The cat purred and she chuckled. “Yes, Jack. I’ll go to my parents to celebrate. We’ll go to church and have dinner…” Her voice trailed off and she wiped at her eyes to dry them from first tears._

  “Oh, Estelle,” Jack whispered. “You’re so beautiful. I loved her at first sight, you know, Gray?”

  “Yeah, I know. Just a pity that you didn’t realize that.”

  “I did… Nothing lasted back then! Promises were always being broken!” Now Jack’s voice broke as he tried to convince his brother with little success.

  “You keep telling yourself that and you’ll go mad.”

  “Wartime, Gray. I had to fight in the war. What should I have done? I couldn’t return to her. How could I live with her, knowing that she’d grow old and die?”

  “She grew old and died anyway,” Gray told him. “But maybe her life would’ve been happier with you in it. She always enjoyed your visits when you pretended to be the son of the Jack she believed to know back then.”

  “I couldn’t do that to her!” Jack shouted. “I couldn’t know that she would never marry anyone else! She was supposed to find a man and live happily ever after!”

  “Problem was that _you_ were that man for her, Jack,” Gray said wryly.

  Jack had grown silent. Sadly he watched Estelle play with her cat.

  “I never meant to hurt you, Estelle,” he murmured, wishing she could hear him. He wanted to hold her, tell her that he would never leave her…

  “Time to go,” Gray said. “Take my hand… and **don’t** let go.”

  Only reluctantly Jack took Gray’s hand, knowing that he would take him away from Estelle.

  “I love you,” he said to her just before he was dragged into the spinning vortex.

  With each time the travel seemed to become worse. Jack staggered into their new location. Stunned he recognized the central Hub, but he could also see that they still were in the past as Gordon Rothery went along the walkway to the board room. The rest of the team was in there already, laughing and drinking.

  “Now look, Jack!” Gray said without any cheer. “A Christmas party!”

  Oh, yeah. It was a Christmas party. Jack remembered that it always was a joy for Alex and the others to turn the board room into a madhouse, hanging up mistletoe and streamers, bows of fir branches and holly, and Christmas ornaments. As far as Jack was concerned he never needed an excuse like mistletoe to kiss someone. He partied with them as long as it did not go too far. Hell, he even ended up in bed with one or another of them at different occasions.

  “But you never truly lived, Jack,” Gray said as if he was reading his thoughts. “C’mon. Go watch!” He gestured up to the board room and reluctantly Jack climbed up the spiral staircase.

  The conference table served as buffet and in the middle of a collection of different foods sat a big turkey. It smelled deliciously, almost too good to be true. A memory flashed through Jack’s mind right at the moment that he heard Gordon say, “ _You didn’t use the leaves of the Amorum Fertilus in the hothouse as spice, Lillian, did you?”_

_“No, I didn’t,” Lillian replied. “Just what would you do if I did?”_

_“After eating the bird… I guess I’d try to catch and eat you,” Gordon teased._

_No one really missed the furtive glance Lillian now threw at Jack, except Jack himself_.

  _I don’t recall her reaction,_ Jack wondered. _But I still know what we did later that night…_

  His thoughts trailed off. _He watched Lillian how she was talking with her co-workers, laughing, drinking, having fun. They all were in a great mood and for once the Rift did not disturb the party._

_It demanded their attention two days later. It had been bad and when they returned to the Hub they were five instead of six. They carried one of their own down to the morgue._

  Jack sighed as he watched himself and his former team mates party. Lillian was beautiful. She had a long mane of dark red hair and green eyes, moved like a cat and was a brilliant scientist in addition. Sometimes Jack had wondered why she did not have a boyfriend or an admirer or two. That night after the party they had shared his bed and that was not due to her using the herbal aphrodisiac as spice for the turkey like Gordon had accused her. Oh, she really moved like a cat, sometimes even like a snake.

  “You slept with her and never realized,” Gray suddenly startled him out of his memories.

  “What?”

  “You never realized that she was in love with you, Jack.”

  “With me? Lillian wasn’t in love with me.” Surprised Jack turned his gaze back at Lillian who now stood beside him, having a glass of champagne and flirting animatedly. “No, she wasn’t. We always argued. I was quite surprised that she came to bed with me that night.”

  “Oh, really? Hm… but she did it because she loved you. And you treated her just like any other shag. Two nights later she died because she wasn’t concentrating properly. Because she was too preocupied with whether you were ok… because she loved you, and you never even noticed her.”

  Like a fish on dry land Jack opened his mouth to tell Gray how wrong he was when Jack caught a look at Lillian how she beamed at him when he happened to turn his back on her.

  “Oh, my god,” Jack sighed and shuddered. Could he have prevented her death? It was not the first time he asked himself that question. He asked himself that every time someone died, but…this was the first time he ever had any real doubt that he was blameless.

  “Yeah, Jack. That’s what you could have done in a different way. She died because you were selfish, not seeing her real feelings for you.”

  “Can we go?” Jack asked. “I understand now. You won’t need to show me more.”

  “Oh, really? You think you can chicken out?” Gray teased. “Like you did with Lillian?”

  “I didn’t chicken out!” Jack said. “I just didn’t assume that it’s so serious for her.”

  Gray snorted with mock amusement. “You’re self-centred and self-torturing.” For a moment he just watched Jack. “So you don’t want to see the Christmas you spent away from your friends in order to chase the Doctor… and put the hand he lost in a jar? They were really put out. Suzie, Toshiko and Owen had a party for themselves… if you can call it a party. You really don’t want to…?”

  “No! I don’t want to see it!” Jack suddenly snapped, grabbing his brother’s shoulders. “I remember the events you showed me clearly!”

  “Obviously not clearly enough,” Gray stated calmly. It was odd for a child to be the voice of reason.

  “It hurts, Gray! It hurts every bloody day to know that I couldn’t hold you! That I won’t be able to ever hold anyone! I’ll lose them all! And it rips my bloody heart out!”

  “If you think that then you didn’t understand yet what we want to tell you,” Gray told him sadly. “Take my hand.”

  So Jack grabbed the outstretched right hand of his little brother and held it tight.

  “Don’t let go!” Gray ordered.

  _Never again!_ Jack thought as he was pulled into the vortex and the air was pressed out of his lungs.

  “Where did you bring us now?” Jack panted when he regained enough of his senses. Looking around he realized that they were in the vaults of the Torchwood Hub. In one of the cells to be exact. “Gray?”

  Frantically Jack turned around at his younger brother when he sensed his hand pull out of his grip. So he grasped it harder, wanting to stop Gray. But the boy just stepped through the security glass while Jack’s fist slammed against it as Gray retreated to the opposite wall.

  Jack was devastated. Once more he could not hold his little brother. Again he let go of his hand. Now he stood behind the unbreakable glass, his palms pressed against it, trying to reach out for his beloved brother.

  Helplessly he had to watch how the figure faded into darkness.

  “Gray!” he screamed, hammering against the glass wall of his cell, but his brother was gone. Tears streamed over Jack’s cheeks and he slid down the glass wall to come to sit on the cold floor.

 

tbc…


	3. The second of the three spirits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Written before CoE, so some details are my own creation. Enjoy!

  “Now, now… Who’s screaming like that just because he’s locked up in a cell? Wouldn’t have fazed you back in our old days.”

  From the left side a man in his late thirties stepped out of the shadows in the tunnel and in front of Jack’s cell. A smug smile played around the lips in his lean face. His dark brown hair was cut in short waves and mischievousness glistened in his brown eyes as he looked Jack over from head to toe.

  Where Jack’s usual greatcoat, dark pants with braces, and shirt were rather unremarkable this stranger’s clothes drew attention at once. His brown leather boots reached up to just below his knees and he wore dark grey trousers. Weapon belts were strapped around his waist over pants and his sandy coloured t-shirt. But the most remarkable was his red uniform jacket with blue collar and cuffs and numerous white braids on the front. He wore it open what gave him a peculiar wild appearance.

  “What the…?” Not for the first time that night Jack was rendered speechless.

  “So you kept your Earth’s alias you used for your escapades? I’ve chosen a new one, Captain John Hart.”

  “What do you want here and now?” Jack growled, getting up from the floor.

  John tutted. “Captain Jack Harkness. Captain. Captain of what?”

  “Hey, I worked my way up through the ranks.”

  “I bet the ranks were very grateful!” John laughed. “Man, I have a déjà vu!”

  “What do you want?”

  “I’m here for you, lover boy,” John smirked. “Friend of yours asked me.”

  “You’re never doing anything just for a favour.” Jack scowled. Actually he did not take one of John’s words at face value.

  “Ah, well… this friend of yours got me out of a tricky situation. Now the bad thing is, I owe him.”

  Jack had an idea who that friend would be.

  “Lean guy in a pinstriped suit?” he asked.

  “Yeah.” John shifted his position to an extremely complacent stance. “Introduced himself as the Doctor.”

  “I suspected that much.” Distracted by John’s sudden appearance Jack did not think of Gray anymore and his grief changed quickly to annoyance. “How are you? Last time I saw you, you were sent to rehab.”

  “Sorry, Jack, won’t tell you.”

  Jack frowned. “Why not? Since when are you so secretive?”

  “Don’t want to tell everything twice.”

  “You’re from my future?” Jack suspected. “We’ll meet again?”

  “Can’t tell you.”

  “I hate it when the Doctor’s doing that. Now what are you here for? Are you gonna get me out of this cell?”

  Abandoning his posture, John made two steps back, staring at Jack in his prison as if he saw it for the first time.

  “What? You can’t get out of there?” he laughed, slapping his thigh. His manic grin annoyed Jack even more. “I have no idea if I can get you out. Let me try.”

  With long strides, he came back to the glass wall and reached for the lock on the cell’s door. It snapped open and John stepped back, making a mock bow and gesturing Jack to come out. Still scowling at him indignantly, Jack marched out of his prison. Without warning, his fist flew into John’s face, making him stumble backwards.

  “Hey! Is that a way to greet an old friend… and lover?”

  “As I can’t get hold of him…” Once more Jack hit John hard in the face. “you’re a convenient…” The third punch threw John to the floor. “target.”

  “You know, Jack,” John murmured as he scrambled back up to his feet, rubbing his hurting chin. “That’s not funny.”

  “It’s not supposed to…”

  Jack couldn’t get further because John grabbed his head and pressed his mouth shut with a crushing kiss. Just for a second, Jack froze under the assault before his instinct took over and he returned the kiss. His hands found John’s body and he held him tight while he gave in to his urging and granted his tongue access to his mouth.

  For another moment Jack got lost in the intense kiss before John’s shuddering moan brought him back to his senses. Violently he pushed John back.

  “And here I thought you enjoyed it,” John pouted.

  “What do you want from me?” Jack panted, his voice full of anger. Anger about his own reaction rather than about what John did to him.

  “I’m here to help you,” John purred. “Nothing more, nothing less. C’mon, Jack. You did enjoy it, didn’t you? You always did.”

  “I don’t have time for that!”

  Brusquely Jack turned on his heels and marched out of the tunnel, out of the vaults and back to the main Hub. Unfortunately John was not that easy to be shaken off.

  “Wow! Looks great! Like an oversized sewer. Chic! So, from out of here you’re saving the world?”

  Jack spun around and stopped John with his palms against his chest. “John! It’s enough. Leave me alone.”

  “Oh, c’mon, Jack. Let’s have some fun. I’ll show you why I’m here real quick and whoosh,” he snapped with his fingers, “you’re getting rid of me again.” Giving him a lopsided smirk he waited for Jack’s reaction.

  That reaction consisted of a deep scowl.

  “That’s the only way to get rid of you?”

  “Yep.”

  “Actually I don’t have time to go with you. I have to keep an eye on…”

  “On the rift?” John mused, chuckling. “You won’t miss a second, Jack. You as former time agent should know that,” he added, holding up his arm with the wrist strap.

  If possible Jack’s scowl even deepened.

  “C’mon, Jack. You’re just making it harder on yourself.”

  “Okay,” the captain finally conceded. “I’ll play A Christmas Carol with you and you’ll leave me alone. Deal?”

  “Deal!” John shouted triumphantly and reached for Jack again. “C’mon, a kiss to seal it.”

  Only reluctantly Jack gave in to that kiss. He could sense John’s fire in it and wondered if this was really such a great idea.

  “Okay, Jack,” John panted when he let go of him. “Take hold of me.”

  “I’m already holding you, John,” Jack grumbled.

  “Oh, Jack. I don’t mean my waist.” Suggestively he shrugged his eyebrows.

  “Oh, no!”

  “Oh, yes, Jack. I mean little John. C’mon.”

  “You’re not serious.”

  “Oh, yes, I am.”

  Jack really would have liked to punch that smirk out of John’s face.

  “Okay,” he growled. “Your wish is my command.” And with that he grabbed him hard.

  “Jack, no. That way you have more fabric in your hand than me,” John scolded and peeled Jack’s hand off himself just to push it down his trousers. “Now that’s better.”

  Before Jack could contradict him, John had pulled him in for another kiss and just as their lips met the world started to spin around them.

 

xXx

 

  When John let go of him again, they still stood on the same spot. Jack was about to lose it and hit John again when he heard voices, familiar voices. His gaze drifted up to the boardroom that was broadly lit and he realized that they were at another time.

  “Go ahead,” John suggested. “They can’t see or hear us.”

  Knowing that he would not have a choice anyway Jack did as he was told and went up the spiral staircase. On the catwalk he found John, watching through the boardroom’s glass walls.

  “Nice trick,” Jack said.

  “Doing my best to entertain you,” John smirked. “You have some pretty little friends. I’d like to get to know them closer.”

  “Sorry, John,” Jack remarked wryly. “They can’t see or hear us.”

  “Yeah, what a bummer.” He whistled appreciatively. “Nice little asses.”

  Ignoring his former partner Jack went into the boardroom.

_“Really, Gwen!” Owen just grumbled. “Why didn’t you bring milk with the cookies, huh? Now that would be truly Christmassy.”_

_“Probably,” Gwen said. “But I know that we all prefer Ianto’s coffee.”_

_“Right. A drug we can’t live without,” Owen agreed. “Talking about it. Where’s the fresh cup you promised, teaboy?”_

_“In the thermos right in front of you, Owen,” Ianto said. Nobody paid attention to his scowl except Jack who could not intervene because they could not see him._

_“You shouldn’t always pick on him, Owen,” Toshiko admonished the medic. “Especially not today. It’s Christmas Eve. Be a little more generous.”_

_“Who wants a mince pie?” Gwen cheered and produced a plate with numerous small pies, each covered with a lid in shape of a star and topped with a cherry._

_“Thanks, Gwen,” Toshiko said sweetly and took one pie. She tasted carefully. “It’s good,” she then exclaimed, sounding surprised. “Really, Gwen, it’s good.”_

_“Oh, really?” Owen grumbled and stuffed one into his mouth. “Mm, ph’n-mph-tastic,” he mumbled around the pastry._

_Beaming at her co-worker Gwen turned to Ianto who smiled a little and accepted one pie from her, tasting it. Chewing slowly he nodded and his reluctant smile widened just a little. Happily Gwen’s grin grew with pride._

_“I’ll tell Rhys,” she said. “He made them.”_

  “Who’s Rhys again?” John wanted to know.

  “Gwen’s boyfriend,” Jack replied.

  “Is he blond? I miss a blonde here.”

  “No, he’s not blond… and he’s Gwen’s boyfriend,” Jack grumbled, giving his former partner a threatening stare.

_“Oh, Gwen, your boyfriend made them? That’s pathetic,” Owen snorted._

_“I think it’s sweet,” Tosh defended her. “I’d like it if my boyfriend knew how to bake.”_

  “Bummer,” John pouted, sneaking up behind Gwen and reaching around her to take her breasts in his hands… what did not work as his hands slid right through her. “Dammit! I thought maybe she and Rhys and I…”

  “No,” Jack cut him short. “Don’t even think of that.”

  “As if anything would stop _you_ from thinking,” John smirked, batting his eyes at Jack and blowing him a kiss.

 _“Oh, Tosh, you’d like to_ have _a boyfriend,” Owen teased. “You still hadn’t had a snog since…?”_

_“Owen!” Gwen shouted admonishingly. “That’s mean! It’s not Tosh’s fault that she hasn’t met Mr. Right yet.”_

_“And you have, haven’t you?” Owen growled. “You’d jump into bed with Captain Jack the first possibility you’d get.”_

  Jack watched the scene with growing confusion, surprised by the venom in Owen’s words.

_“Just like you would with Gwen?” Tosh smirked._

_“You’re just jealous because you have no one to snog with,” Owen said._

_“You’re an insensitive ass, Owen Harper!” Gwen spat._

  And that’s how they wanted to celebrate Christmas. Jack watched with trepidation. He had thought that they finally became a team, and now it looked as if all his efforts had been in vain.

  His gaze fell on Ianto who also just watched the exchange. None of his usual sarcastic quips came over his lips. He just stood back and let them fight.

  Jack raised his hand and let his fingertips lovingly trail over Ianto’s jaw line. How he wished he could actually touch him.

  “I see, it’s this one.” John said thoughtfully. “I can understand that, Jack. He’s a real eye candy.”

  “He’s so much more than that,” Jack murmured, letting his hand linger on Ianto’s cheek. He looked so… apathetic. Jack hated it. _Why didn’t I notice before?_

  Suddenly the look vanished and just a second later Jack realized that Gwen turned her attention back on Ianto.

  _You’re hiding,_ Jack thought. _You’re better at it than I am, I suppose._

_“So what’s that telling us?” Owen snarled. “That everyone’s sleeping with someone but not with the one he should be sleeping with?”_

_“What?” Toshiko could not believe it. Owen really was an ass._

_“Isn’t that true, Tosh?” Owen smirked. “You’re sleeping with an alien, Gwen’s sleeping with me and would share the bed with Jack if she had the opportunity, and, oh well,  maybe our teaboy,” he gestured at Ianto, “would mind sharing his lover with our PC Cooper. Though I doubt that our captain’s really as hot in bed as he likes everyone to believe.”_

“What did he just say?” Jack gasped, amused. “I probably should pay Dr. Harper a visit and prove that he’s wrong! I’d screw him senseless!”

  “May I join in?” John asked hopefully. “You could bring Eye Candy, too.”

  “John!”

  “What? Don’t tell me you adapted their prude attitude towards sex!” Licking his lips John went over to Toshiko, threading his fingers through her hair, and head as he could not really touch her, and pushed his tongue into her ear.

_“You know, Owen, that is something you should find out by yourself, just like you can only tell if you like lavabread by tasting it.”_

_Owen made a face of disgust at him._

_“You could have a taste right now,” Ianto pushed, backing Owen against the wall. Right above him hung a mistletoe. “I love Christmas traditions.”_

  “Ianto?” Jack panted, incredulously.

  “What does he mean?” John demanded to know, leaning towards the men curiously.

  “It’s a tradition that two people who meet under a mistletoe have to kiss,” Jack murmured, watching with fascination.

_“Ianto?” Owen gasped, his eyes widening with horror as the young Welshman leaned in and pressed his mouth on the medic’s lips._

_“Whoa!” shouted Gwen and Toshiko._

_Owen struggled, trying in vain to push Ianto off him, but he could not move him. Then Ianto let go of him._

_“Nice attempt at a party, Gwen,” Ianto said. “But I can’t stay. Sorry, Tosh. Have a nice party with your friends. See you tomorrow.”_

Jack saw him go, leaving a pouting Gwen, a chuckling Toshiko and a thoroughly befuddled Owen behind.

  “Oh, I love that tradition!” John cheered, grabbing Jack and pushing him against the wall where Owen had been and where he could not escape his kiss.

  “No. Let’s stay just a little longer.”

  “Nope, and I’m not sorry. You said you wanted to get rid of me as soon as possible.” Suddenly his smirk lit up again. “Take hold of Little John… and **don’t** let go.”

  “Very funny,” Jack grumbled before John pulled him in for another kiss.

 

xXx

 

  “Can you tell me _why_ you’re doing it that way?” Jack panted as they left the vortex. “I mean, you have a full working vortex manipulator.”

  “Doesn’t work for this job,” John replied, beaming at him. “Besides, I wanted to get something out of it, too. Just a little…”

  “No,” Jack told him distinctly. “Nothing more than that.”

  “You know, Jack,” John pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “You’re no fun anymore.”

  “Where are we?”

  “What does it look like?”

  Yeah, what did it look like? They stood in a big room with bare walls and linoleum floor. Jack saw chairs and tables on one side, and camp beds on the other. People everywhere. A few children among them. In the open space between the rows of beds and the rows of tables stood a big Christmas tree, decorated with silver ornaments and countless electric candles.

  “Looks like a doss house,” the captain said.

  “Well, then it must be a doss house,” John agreed. “C’mon!” John strode down the hall, not caring where he went and passing through several people on his way. “Where is he?” he muttered to himself. “Must be… ah, here!”

  Walking a good way back he grabbed Jack’s arm and pulled the captain over to the room where he had spotted whom he had searched for.

  “Owen!” Jack gasped as he saw the young medic. “What are you doing here?”

  “Already forgotten, Jack?” John reprimanded him. “They can’t hear you.”

  “Owen?”

  Together with his own query Jack heard a female voice call out for his medic. Its owner, a young brunette in an angel’s costume, came in and squatted beside Owen where he knelt beside a camp bed. On it lay a little boy, about ten years old Jack estimated. He looked like he was sleeping, but something was not quite right.

_“I should’ve saved him,” Owen mumbled to himself rather than to the woman. “I should’ve saved him. I should’ve…”_

_“Owen, stop it,” she said sternly. “There was nothing you could do. We’re not at a hospital here. You could not save him.”_

_“I should’ve saved him,” was all Owen could say._

  “John! What’s wrong with that boy?” Jack demanded to know.

  “Do I look like a doctor?”

  Pretending to use a stethoscope John hovered over the boy on the stretcher and moved his hand over his chest as if he would listen to his body functions.

  “No heartbeat,” he said sadly. “He’s dead.”

  Jack scowled at him deeply, but John just shrugged it off.

  “All I can tell is that he’s dead, Jack. For details ask your doctor.” His face lit up. “Talking of which… He looks good enough to eat!”

  “For you, John, every sentient piece of flesh looks good enough to eat.”

  John grinned at him sheepishly. “Can’t help my genes.”

_“Owen, his parents said that they were at the hospital with him. If he was not diagnosed correctly there it’s not your fault.” Placing an arm around his shoulders the angel gently hugged the doctor a little. “You can’t save the world all by yourself. We’re glad that you’re here at all to help with the Christmas table. The people we’re helping wouldn’t have a feast at all if they couldn’t come here. You were not here as a doctor. They can be glad that you were here at all. You did everything you could, Owen. Accept that it was not your fault.”_

_“Wish I wouldn’t have come,” Owen snarled._

  “I’m glad you did, Owen!” Jack murmured to himself. “I’m proud of you.”

_“Owen Harper! You don’t really mean that!” she raised her voice. “You couldn’t save this boy! Okay! Get over it!”_

_“History’s repeating itself!” he growled, thinking of Darren Lucas, the nine-year-old who was the only patient whose name he never forgot. “I shouldn’t be a doctor!”_

_“Don’t you dare, Owen!” she admonished him. “Think of all those people you helped when you were still practicing. And here’s one you couldn’t help. It’s not your fault!”_

_Suddenly Owen’s stare turned icy cold and his jaw set in a grim expression._

_“Right. It’s not my fault. I could’ve saved him if…” Leaving his sentence open he punched the cabinet beside him. “Oh, bloody Captain! I could’ve saved this boy!”_

  “What? What do you mean? How can that be my fault?” Jack was confused.

_“Owen? What are you talking about?”_

_“Ah, forget it,” he spat, pulling on his doctor’s jacket. “I’m out of here.”_

_Throwing the jacket to her feet he stomped out of the room and down the hall._

_“Owen!”_

  “Owen!” Jack shouted after him. “Owen, come back!”

  “Oi, Jack. Don’t be mad at him.” John tugged on his sleeve. “C’mere, sweetheart.”

  “John, stop it.”

  “Jack, c’mon. It’s just a little bit of fun.” And he nuzzled his left ear.

  “I don’t want to.”

  “As I can’t have Owen you should be a little more cooperative,” John said, suggestively shrugging his eyebrows. Then he grabbed Jack’s wrist and pushed his hand into his trouser. “Hold on, Jack. Please.”

  For once in his life Jack actually was not pleased to touch another man’s pride. As soon as his hand closed around it the spinning vortex pulled them in to deliver them to another destination.

 

xXx

 

  “Next stop Splott,” John cheered as they stepped out of the vortex.

  “Splott?”

  “Splott.”

  Looking around Jack found himself in a narrow street with rows of houses on each side. Right where they stood a car pulled up to the curb. Jack recognized it at once as Toshiko’s. They saw the Japanese computer expert get out of the car and walk to one of the houses where she rang the doorbell. A moment later a woman in about Toshiko’s age let her in.

  “C’mon, let’s see what they’re doing. Maybe they’ll have an orgy?”

  “You only think of that one thing, huh?”

  “Nope,” John defended himself. He grinned. “I also think of… money!”

  Rolling his eyes Jack followed his former partner inside. It was a cosy little house with a big Christmas tree in one corner of the living room and stockings over the fireplace. Chestnuts were roasting in the fire. Perfect for a Christmas party.

_“Great that you could make it, Tosh,” her old school friend Glenda said happily. “Did you already have dinner? Help yourself to a plate if you haven’t eaten yet. Remember Scott and Douglas?”_

_“Yeah,” Tosh said. “Hello.”_

_“Hello, Toshiko.”_

_They greeted each other with handshakes before they sat on the sofas around the coffee table._

_“We were about to have a cup of tea and play a round of Trivial Pursuit,” Glenda declared. “That’ll be fun!”_

  She went to get the cups and the tea and once she returned and everyone was served Jack and John witnessed them playing the game. With pride Jack heard Toshiko answer her questions.

_“You should try and pick another category, Tosh,” Glenda suggested when she gave her the dice. “You shouldn’t try to get only on the science fields.”_

_“My strategy is my problem,” Toshiko told her._

_“Your strategy is no strategy,” Scott remarked wryly. “Go on.”_

_So Tosh rolled the dice and it showed the three. That landed Tosh on a field for history._

_“Okay, here we go,” Douglas said, picking up a card to read the question, “The name_ TheBlitz _is a shortening of this German term.”_

  “C’mon, Tosh, that’s easy,” Jack said and watched with surprise that she seemed to have a problem with answering the question. “C’mon.”

  All Jack’s encouragement did not help in the end. Toshiko did not know it and so it was Scott’s turn again.

_“Science and Nature, Geography, and Arts and Literature alone won’t get you all stones,” Douglas teased. “You’re still a tech buff, huh?”_

  “You say that as if it’s something bad,” Jack muttered, feeling anger bubbling in his stomach on Toshiko’s behalf.

_“Yeah, Tosh. You shouldn’t only concentrate on your strong categories.”_

  “Why, because she might beat you? That’s her decision!” Jack exclaimed. “C’mon, Tosh! Tell them that you’re only dumbing down so that they don’t think you want to show off!”

  John smirked. He was hovering over Glenda. Her blond hair fell in long curls over her shoulders. His fingers threaded through it and he certainly wished he could sense it.

  “Finally a blonde,” he grinned. “I should go and visit her when we’re done.”

  “You could also take your ego and return to the 51st century where you belong.”

  “You don’t grant me any fun, do you?”

_“What are you doing for a living, Toshiko?” Douglas asked._

_“I’m a software consultant,” she told him flatly._

_“Still a computer geek then, huh?” Douglas teased._

  “Nothing wrong with that,” Jack spat, wishing Toshiko would defend herself, but she just looked slightly hurt and retreated into herself. “Show them what’s inside of you, Tosh! Show them a bit of the fire you unleash hunting down aliens.”

  “Now you’re getting a little carried away by the knowledge that they can’t hear you, huh?” John taunted.

  Unnoticed by Glenda and the men Tosh fumbled with her mobile phone. Jack saw it, though, and he had a suspicion why she did it. He was proven right when it went off a few seconds later. Tosh answered it and pretended to listen intently.

_“I’ll be right there,” she said. “Yes, sir, in about ten minutes.” She put the phone away and excused herself to the others, “I’m sorry. I’ve got to get in at work. It’s important.”_

_“On Christmas Eve?” Glenda exclaimed. “You’ve got to work?”_

_“Yep,” Tosh said. “The whole world could fall apart if I’m not in front of my computer as soon as possible. Sorry, guys.”_

  It was not really a lie and Jack could hear by the sound of her voice that she said it with pride, and a spur of anger at the others.

  “End of the show,” John sighed. “Let’s head to our next stop.”

  “If you come and touch me again…” Jack growled, holding his hands up to stop John from grabbing him.

  “Oh, we don’t have to kiss,” John shrugged. “If you want to stay and watch them play Trivial Pursuit, that’s fine with me.” Grinning madly at him he stepped up to Glenda again to sit on her lap.

  Rolling his eyes Jack went over and took John by the lapels of his uniform jacket. Then he shoved him up against the wall, so that his head smacked against it, pushing his hand deep into his trousers.

  “Yoi!” John yelped as Jack’s fist closed mercilessly around his pride.

  “Didn’t you say I should hold you?” Jack sneered. “Not right?”

  Instead of getting an answer Jack was pulled into the vortex again.

 

xXx

 

  “Where are we?” Jack asked, confused.

  They stood outside a cottage and they were definitely not in Cardiff. Snow covered the pasture as far as Jack could see in the light of an increasing moon. A main house, a stable, and a barn surrounded a court where three cars were parked. The cottage was brightly lit and Jack trudged over to a window. Looking through the glass he noticed that he found the kitchen. A middle aged woman stood by the big table in the middle of the room and cut apples to slices.

  _Nice,_ Jack thought, turning to follow John who already stood by the entrance. Then he went inside right on his former partner’s heels.

  “Now look what I’ve found,” John chuckled. “The Jones cottage.”

  _Jones?_

  Jack was electrified. Did John really mean _the_ Jones? As in Ianto’s parents? Was Ianto here, too?

  He hurried after John into the dining room.

  The interior was old like the cottage. A big dining table with the remains of the Christmas dinner stood in the middle of the room, wooden chairs around it and an old cupboard towered in a corner. Plants stood in the window sill, one of them, right in the middle, a big red poinsettia.

  Instinctively Jack stepped aside when a young woman entered the room and collected the last dishes to bring them to the kitchen. Jack’s eyes widened. She just looked like Ianto, a female Ianto. She had the same dark hair, except that hers was cascading down over her shoulders, and stunning blue eyes.

  “Wow! Eye Candy’s got a twin, huh?” John looked as if he would start to drawl. “I’d love a threesome with them.”

  “No way!” Jack told him and grabbed him by the elbow, dragging him over to the living room where they found the rest of the family.

  The woman Jack had seen in the kitchen just reappeared and sat down beside her husband on the broad couch. A moment later the female Ianto followed her and sank into the cushions of the sofa opposite her parents. To her right side leaned a young man in the corner of the couch, chewing on a Christmas cookie.

  And in the armchair by the window sat Ianto.

  Jack thought that he never looked better. He had changed since he left the Hub. Under his dark suit he wore a dark red shirt and a tie in dark red, black and silver stripes. Jack resolved to ordering him to wear that shirt daily on the job.

  _Ianto can’t deny his relation to the others,_ Jack thought. _They look so much alike. Especially the woman. If John is right? Does Ianto have a fraternal twin? I don’t remember reading it in his file._

_“What are the children doing, Sioned?” their father asked._

_“Oh, until they left for the holidays they did everything they could to make our lives more difficult,” the female Ianto laughed. “That’s life with students at a boarding school. You love them, and they return your affection with tricks and stupid jokes.”_

_In spite of her words she was smiling and the glow in her eyes as she spoke revealed her joy at being a teacher._

_“Mam, did you make the cookies or was it Sioned?” Ianto’s brother Meredith wanted to know._

_“Actually the chocolate cookies are Mam’s and the stars and the macaroons are from me,” his sister told him._

_“And Ianto brought the mince pies,” their mother explained. “Try one. They are good.”_

  _Mince pies_ , Jack chuckled to himself. _Reminds me of something_.

  “I bet his are even better than Rhys’s,” John smirked at him.

  Jack smiled. Sure they would be better. Even if they were burnt Jack would think that they were better, but actually they looked pretty delicious. Judging by the look crossing Meredith Jones’s face they _were_ good.

  “He’s a Jack of all trades,” Jack remarked proudly.

  “In _every_ respect?” John grinned at him smugly, shrugging his eyebrows suggestively. “I tell you, I’d really love to get to know him better.”

  “Take your hands off him!” Jack snarled. “Even if you can’t really touch him!”

  “Oh, wow! So possessive?” John backed off from Ianto’s easy chair. “Guess I better not push that matter, huh?”

  “Exactly.”

  Right at that moment, Ianto got up and left the room. Curiously Jack followed him. They ended up in a room upstairs. Ianto got something out of his suitcase and for a moment he stood by the window, turning the wrapped up present in his hands. He sighed. Then he dropped it on the bed.

  Jack did not know how long Ianto was standing there, staring out of the window, but he knew that it was too long when his mother silently slipped into the room.

_“Ianto? What’s up? We’re missing you downstairs.”_

_“I’m sorry, Mam. I’ll be right back.” Ianto tried a smile and failed miserably._

_“You don’t look like that, son. What’s wrong?” Taking him by the shoulders_ , _she coaxed him to sit down on the bed. As they sank down beside each other_ , _she set the package aside. “Christmas present?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_“Not for one of us, right?” she mused. “Who’s the lucky girl?”_

_Ianto made a face as if he got caught in the neighbour’s garden stealing apples from the tree. It looked as if he knew that he could not keep anything from his mother._

_“Did you find someone?” his mother prodded. “Ianto?”_

_“Yes,” he admitted softly._

_“Oh, Ianto. I’m happy for you. Who is she?”_

_Ianto chewed his bottom lip. His silence was enough for his mother to make the connection._

_“Who is…_ he _?” she asked hesitantly, silently dreading his answer._

_Taking a deep breath Ianto let it out slowly next. “His name is Jack,” he said._

_“Problems already?”_

_“I wanted to ask him to come along for Christmas here, but I didn’t.”_

_“Why not?” She was surprised. “Don’t tell me you were scared of us, of our reaction.”_

_“No, Mam.”_

_“So, what’s the problem?”_

_“I didn’t ask because he wouldn’t have come,” Ianto murmured._

  “What?!” Jack was thunderstruck.

_“Oh, Ianto. Why would you think so?”_

_“He’s not the domestic type, you know. I don’t think that he takes our relationship as serious as I do.”_

_At once she became protective. “He’d be better off if he would,” she said, her anger showing even though she tried to suppress it. “If he’s not interested in a closer relationship he probably is not worth the effort.”_

_“Mom, it’s not like that,” Ianto tried to explain. “He’s not doing it out of thoughtlessness.”_

_“But he seems to do just that.”_

_“That might appear to be the case, but I know that there’s more behind it. I found out that there was an accident or something. No matter what it was, it effected him deeply. It made him reluctant to love anyone out of fear to lose him.” Ianto choked on his last words._

_His mother smiled at him lovingly._

_“And you love him.”_

_“Yes, I do,” Ianto murmured, feeling his heart ache when he admitted it. “I know that he’ll never love me like I love him, but… it… it doesn’t matter.”_

_His hoarse voice betrayed him. It did matter._

  Jack was watching with tightening chest and rapidly accelerating heart rate. How could Ianto know? He definitely did not tell him. Did he get all of that out of the archives? Was so much about him in there? How? For how long?

_“But even though you know where his incapability to love comes from you’re hurting… because you can’t simply switch off your feelings.” Compassionately she smiled at her son and ruffled his hair affectionately. “He’s breaking your heart.”_

  Ianto could not answer and it was not necessary. His tears were more than enough to convince Jack that Ianto did in fact love him.

  As if he needed proof for that!

  He already knew that Ianto loved him.

  Hearing steps behind him, he turned on his heels to be confronted by John. Before the time agent could enter Ianto’s room, Jack grabbed him by his jacket and shoved him back to the stairs.

  “I’ve seen all I needed to see. Bring me home,” he told him.

  “You sure?”

  “Yes, I’m sure!” Jack snarled. He reached for the sword John wore in a sheath on his belt and pulled it out. “And you’ll simply do it. Try to make me hold you one more time… and I’ll chop it off with your own sword.”

  John pouted.

  “No need to go ballistic,” he growled, blew Jack a kiss, and they both vanished in the swirling vortex.

 

tbc…


	4. The last of the three spirits

  Thrown out of the vortex, Jack flew right into a snowdrift. Shuddering, he scrambled to his feet.

  He was freezing.

  _Whoa! It wasn’t that cold when we were at the Jones’s cottage,_ he thought. Now he realized that he, coming right out of his bunker earlier, wore neither boots nor his coat.

  So he stomped from one foot on the other, shivering, looking around to determine where John had dumped him.

  And then he realized that he was out on the Roald Dahl Plass.

  Falling into a fast trot, Jack headed for the water tower.

   _Where’s the stone under the thick layer of snow?_

  Jack was pretty sure that he stood on the right place and pushed the buttons on his wrist strap.

  Nothing happened.

  Confused Jack looked around, shifted his position, and tried it again. Without success.

  “Dammit!” he swore and was about to head for the tourist office when he was stopped in his tracks.

  “Jaaack!”

  For some odd reason Jack shuddered when he heard the whining call.

  The clock of the church beside the oval basin struck one.

  “You don’t want to go now, do you?” the creepy voice asked.

  Jack spun around, trying to find its origin. From behind the water tower a figure emerged.

  “You’d miss the best of the show.”

  Jack gaped at the man who appeared in front of him.

  “I know you, don’t I?” he asked and the man’s features split into a maniacal smile. “You’re Harold Saxon!”

  “I once used to pretend to be a man called Harold Saxon,” the man said, approaching Jack quite slowly. “Now I’m a ghost… thanks to you. Well, kind of.”

  His evil smirk chased chills down Jack’s back. “Why thanks to me? What did I do?”

  “Ah, well, you can’t remember, Jack. It hasn’t happened yet.” He laughed insanely. “I’m a time lord, Jack. I _was_ a time lord. I refused to regenerate after Lucy shot me.” He shook his head as if he still could not believe it. “Always the women…”

  “What are you talking about?” Jack blurted out. “Quit the bullshit and tell me…”

  “Uh uhhh,” Saxon cut him short. “Be careful what you’re saying. You don’t want to annoy me.”

  “What if I do?” Jack challenged.

  “Well, then I’ll have to punish you.” Smirking wickedly he pulled something out of his inner jacket pocked. “Laser screwdriver,” Saxon cheered, presenting the item in question like a spokesman would do with a product in an advertisement. “Who’d have sonic?”

  And with that he pointed the tip of it at Jack and pushed a button. The beam hitting his chest killed the captain instantly.

  “Hm, reminds me of our first meeting on the Valiant,” Saxon said, towering over Jack’s dead body. “Now you had better behave yourself!”

  About three minutes later, Jack resurrected panting and coughing, clutching at the first object he could take hold of, which happened to be Saxon’s left leg.

  “Hey! Keep your hands to yourself!” the man complained, pointing his screwdriver at Jack.

  So the captain pulled back his hand and scrambled to his feet.

  “Maybe I should advise you that you better behave yourself,” Saxon told him. “I guess you didn’t hear it the first time. What with being killed and all.” He sighed theatrically. “So, show some respect… and call me by my real name. I…” he made a pause for effect, “am… The Master!”

  Jack frowned deeply. He had no idea what he should make of this odd man, but he got a feeling that he was not merely odd but rather lunatic.

  “Sooo, Jack,” the Master told him, pointing at the captain’s left wrist. “Time to go. I’ll tell you where.”

  “My wrist strap? It doesn’t teleport anymore.”

  Grabbing Jack’s arm and twisting it hard to get better access to the device, the Master pointed his screwdriver at it. Then he started to type in the coordinates.

  “No!” Jack said and tried to twist out of the Master’s hold.

  Tilting his head to the side and rising his eyebrows over his wicked grin, he directed his screwdriver at Jack again. That made the captain stop his squirming quickly. So the Master finished recalibrating the manipulator and, taking hold on it, he pushed a button. Jack could do nothing against the nauseating pressure of transport.

 

xXx

 

_“You bastard!” Rhys Williams shouted, grabbing Jack’s arm and spinning him around. “You thought I wouldn’t find out?”_

_“Wouldn’t find out what?”_

  It was his future self Jack was watching who said that. Jack had a suspicion about what Rhys meant, but so far he could not be sure.

_“You were the one who stole our stuff! Am I right? You broke into our house and stole everything that could remind me of my wife, all the pictures, her books, her music, her clothes. You didn’t leave anything! You’re a bloody bastard, Harkness!”_

  Rhys’s voice was thick with grief and Jack could not begrudge him that. He was absolutely right. Still it was the only way he thought that he could deal with it. Working for Torchwood Gwen knew that the day would come when he would have to take her belongings to store them in a garage like he did with Suzie’s possessions, too.

  Okay, by then she did not know that she would be married one day.

_“We have kids for God’s sake!” Rhys ranted on. “What am I supposed to tell them? They have nothing left of their mother, how can I explain that? What am I supposed to tell them?! You didn’t even leave one photo, Jack! Not even a bloody photo!”_

_“I’m sorry, Rhys,” Jack’s future self said. “You knew what would happen. Don’t blame me now.”_

_“But I do blame you!” Rhys screamed. “We won’t even be able to rest beside each other! Or will you come when I’m gone and put me in a box beside her in the morgue? What about our children? Where can they find us?”_

_Astonished the future Jack raised an eyebrow at Rhys._

  And the present Jack did the same.

_“There’s nothing left to talk about, Rhys. I can’t let you have her body. I’m sorry.”_

_“Oh, you’re not sorry, you bastard. I wish I could make you really sorry. Too bad that I can’t kill you!”_

_“Rhys,” Jack tried to calm him._

_“The only comfort I have is that you’re in the same situation. Where do you go to grieve for_ your _love? Where do you go to remember Ianto?”_

  “Ianto?” Jack gasped.

  Rhys did not seem to have changed much. Seeing him as widower had been a shock. To learn that Ianto died even before Gwen was a horrifying thought.

  _The future Jack just turned around and walked away. Rhys just stood there and watched him go, his face flushed with fury and tears running down his cheeks._

  _Oh, God,_ Jack thought. _Could I really do that to Gwen and Rhys?_

  If he was honest, Jack had never even thought about what losing Gwen would do to Rhys. When Gwen had asked what would happen if she left all her stuff to him and Torchwood, back when she first joined, Jack had told her they would just take Rhys too. He had half meant it as a joke, but… of course, since then everything had changed. Judging by what he had just heard, Rhys had found out about them, about what Gwen did. He was married to her and, of course, the children had been unexpected. Torchwood One had had a rule that female Torchwood employees were not allowed to have kids. It became too dangerous, they had too much to lose.

  Jack had never believed in that rule. He had been stupid, he realised now, not to think about this happening. It had just never crossed his mind that Gwen would die any time soon…

  “Can we go back now?” Jack asked.

  Grinning wickedly the Master shook his head.

  “No, Jack. We still have a way to go.”

  “But I don’t want to see that!” Jack yelled in the Master’s face. “I know that I’ll outlive them! What’s the point in showing me when and how they die?”

  “You still don’t get the point, do you, Jack? And I thought it was… obvious!”

  And with that the Master shoved Jack backwards, right in front of a bus.

  A few seconds were all Jack had left to look up, realize what would happen, and scream. Then he was hit by the bus.

 

xXx

 

  Gasping for breath, Jack revived lying on his back with his limbs sprawled like a starfish. His head was spinning. Or was the world spinning around him? For all he knew it could also be the latter. No, he was almost sure it was himself who was so dizzy.

  “So! You’re back!”

  Looking up, Jack found himself face to face with the Master. For a second he toyed with the idea of punching that smug smile off of his face.

  As if he could read his thoughts, the smile faded slightly and the Master stepped back with a frown. When he spoke, it was in the admonishing tone one might use with a small child who had misbehaved. “No, no, Jack. Don’t even think about hitting me. I’d have to kill you again.”

  Even though he knew that he would come back, that was not an option for Jack. Resurrecting was no fun. Dying was no fun either.

  Like being run over by a bus.

  God, his head hurt.

  _Shouldn’t it have run right through me?_ Jack wondered.

  “You ask yourself why the bus could hit you?” the Master taunted. “Must be because it was my Tardis.”

  “You have a TARDIS?” _Oh, great! I definitely prefer the police box disguise._

  The Master smiled mildly. “You don’t approve? Or perhaps you miss **his** TARDIS? Jack. That police box is so pathetic. Way below the TARDIS’s possibilities.”

  “He loves it and the TARDIS never complained.”

  “As I said. Pathetic.”

  “Where are we?” Jack demanded to know, scrambling to his feet.

  “Earth, future Christmas,” the Master replied curtly. “Just like the one before.”

  “It’s a possible future, right?” Jack asked. “It’s not what will happen but what could happen.”

  The Master just shrugged.

  “Yes, it’s that, right? The Doctor once told me that he can see all variations of time that was and that could be. So you picked one of many scenarios to show me?”

  “If that’s what he told you…”

  “So where are we?” Jack changed the subject.

  “I already told you, we’re on earth.”

  Jack saw the Master’s features darken. He probably should not ask again. The time lord stood in a peculiar posture, his arms crossed and one finger pointing to his left. Looking in that direction Jack could not see anything but ruins. It was night. Moonlight shone down on weathered remains of what once had been a city street. There were no landmarks that could give away in which town they were.

  “Where are we?” it slipped from Jack’s lips. He regretted it at once when the beam of the laser screwdriver hit him.

  “Whoa!” he gasped when he revived a few minutes later. “Why the fuck are you doing that?”

  “Don’t swear, Jack,” the Master admonished him, pointing the screwdriver at him. Then he gestured in the direction he had indicated before.

  “Okay, okay,” Jack grumbled as he dragged himself up to his feet and stumbled over to the ruins. Through an opening between the bricks he climbed into the house and deeper into the shadows. Further ahead a light shimmered in the darkness. Jack found that its origin was in the cellar. Dreading what he might find, Jack stalked down the stairs and further toward the light.

  He heard voices.

  Jack shuddered. He knew one of them.

  It was his own.

  _A glimpse of a possible future,_ Jack thought. Chills shot down his back. He was not sure if he wanted to know what might be ahead. Except what he already knew from school and his work for the Time Agency.

 _“You_ are _Jack Harkness, aren’t you?” another male voice queried right then._

_“Would it matter? What difference would it make if I was?”_

_“You could help us! You could make a difference!”_

  Stepping around the next corner, Jack entered a room where a fire was burning in a makeshift hearth. It was the only source of light. His future self leaned in a bed of several cushions. They all were worn and shabby. A few cans stood in a corner and a single pot stood beside the fire.

  Once more Jack shuddered.

  The man who was talking to him was clad in heavy boots and leather trousers. They were as worn as Jack’s cushions and the jacket that covered the man’s upper body had holes and only one sleeve.

_“I can’t make any difference,” Jack laughed, bitter._

_“Yes, you can. I’m sure you can.”_

_“Sorry, but you’re wasting your time.”_

_The future Jack took a knife and a piece of iron and started to sharpen his knife. It made a distinct scraping sound each time he drew the blade over the metal._

_“I can’t believe that you really mean that. I’ve heard stories! You were the leader of Torchwood. You fought all kinds of threats against earth… successfully! You could do it again!”_

_“No.”_

  Jack was surprised by his harsh answer. He could not believe that he could ever be that hard hearted. What had happened? Where were they? When were they? What had destroyed the city?

_“How can you say no?!” the man thundered. “You know what’s happening all over the world! You can’t want that to continue!”_

_“I’m not oblivious to what is going on,” Jack spat sharply. “That’s why I’m not going to get involved. I’m fed up. Now go!”_

_“I won’t go! I was sent to bring you to our commander and that’s what I will do!”_

_Jack was so fast on his feet that the other man did not have a chance to defend himself. In one moment he was arguing and in the next he was pressed against a wall with Jack’s knife against his throat._

_“You’re not in the position to demand anything,” Jack snarled, pressing the blade harder against the man’s neck. “I’ll give you one more chance to leave. If you don’t go voluntarily I’ll kill you.”_

_He let go of him and shoved him toward the exit._

  Jack watched with horror. That was what he could turn into? The people in his time now called him an arrogant bastard. What would they call him then? Jack hated what he saw.

 _“Look at you Jack Harkness. Yesterday’s shining hero dwells in the ruins just like the rest of us,” the man spat as he went to the door. “Too scared to fight with our resistance against our suppressors. My great_ , _great grandfather would loath to see you like that.”_

_“I couldn’t care less about your ancestor,” Jack growled. “Out!”_

_“He wouldn’t stand back and watch how our planet is exploited and destroyed by the Daleks!” the man shouted at his face. “Look around you! Humanity enslaved to dig up the last of our resources! He told his family what he used to do! His beliefs were carried forward by each generation, and I for one share them! I know that he would have fought, that’s why I’m part of the resistance! He_ believed _in you! Every generation of Joneses was told that you were the man to go to when they needed help.”_

_“Then you were misinformed,” Jack said, raising his knife threateningly. “And now get out of here!”_

  Jones. Jones was a pretty common name, but the way the man said it had something demanding. Jack was quite sure that he meant a special Jones family.

_“Ianto would turn over in his grave if he could see you now! I thought if anyone could convince you to fight with us it would be me, but obviously I was mistaken. I thought it was an honour to have his and your blood run through my veins, but now I have to realize that I should be ashamed of my ancestry… at least half of it.”_

  _Ianto’s and_ mine _? This man… this man is Ianto’s great great grandson?_ Jack shuddered. And, if he had understood correctly, the man was also his own great great grandson. He and Ianto had kids? When? And more to the point, how? _Did I really take the risk to get pregnant?_ Jack wondered. _In the 51st century male pregnancies were common enough, but in the 21st?_

_Only now the man turned to leave. As he vanished in the corridor and up the stairs Jack put his knife away and settled back down on his cushions._

  Jack was thunderstruck. When would he become such an ass?

  Wordlessly he stared at his future self. _How could that happen? How could I change so much, become so selfish? I’ve changed so much since the Doctor found me during the London Blitz!_ It shocked him that he could change back again. That he could actually get **worse**.

  Gasping for breath, he stumbled over to where his future self lay on the cushions, nursing a bottle.

  Careless.

  Heartless.

  Indifferent.

  Those were words Jack did not want to ever describe him.

  But they were the first ones that came to his mind when he looked down at his future self.

  “No!” he gasped and virtually darted out of the cellar and out of the house.

  Right into a Dalek patrol.

  They came up the road and went right through him.

  Frantically Jack scanned the area for any sign of his and Ianto’s great great grandson, but he could not see him anywhere. Good. That meant that the Daleks could not see him either. But where was he?

  Hearing feet shuffle Jack turned to the right and followed the sound. Unfortunately the Daleks had heard it, too.

_“Exterminate!” one of them shrieked._

  A second later Jack saw people run across the street.

  “No!” he screamed, forgetting that they could not hear him. “Find cover, somewhere to hide! Off the street! Run!”

  Jack ran after the group, bringing himself between the people and the Daleks. He had no weapon to fire. He had not even boots on his feet.

  “Exterminate! Exterminate!” the Daleks shrieked repeatedly.

  Jack ran.

  Remembering that he could do nothing to help them, Jack at least wanted to see if they could get to safety. They vanished between ruins and he followed them. Only peripherally he noticed that the Daleks’ screams faded behind him. When it registered in his mind he slowed his run and turned around.

  The Daleks stood in front of the ruins, unable to get in.

  _Why aren’t they following us?_ Jack wondered, staring at the aliens. _Why can’t they get inside?_

  When he raised his gaze over the top of the Daleks his heart skipped a beat. In the distance behind them he spotted a building that was not yet as destroyed as all the others. It was still solid enough for him to recognise its shape…

  “Cardiff,” Jack gasped, as he identified one of his favourite vantage points. “This is Cardiff!”

  “You mean, this _was_ Cardiff.”

  There stood the Master, smirking at Jack. The captain would have loved to shoot him if he had a weapon and the time lord was not dead already.

  “How did this happen?” Jack demanded to know, his voice breaking with anxiety. “What happened to Torchwood, to UNIT? Why is no-one helping them? Tell me! Maybe I could stop this from happening!”

  “How can you not understand this yet? I don’t care about you or your poxy planet.” The Master sighed, rolling his eyes. “Let’s just say this is what happens when the Boss goes away.”

  “It can be changed though, right?”

  The Master shrugged infuriatingly. “Can it?”

  “Why are you showing me this?” Jack demanded to know. “If this is a future I can’t change, then why bother showing me?”

  Enraged by the way the Master stood in this complacent posture, slightly leaning back and the arms crossed over his chest, Jack lunged for the time lord.

  “Look out,” the Master said cheerfully, pointing upwards.

  Automatically Jack stopped and looked up only to see a heavy rock crash down on him.

  _Splat!_

  “My TARDIS is pretty versatile, isn’t it?” the Master rejoiced, gazing at the rock that had buried Jack with obvious pride.

 

xXx

 

  This time it was harder to resurrect. When Jack came to, panting, each and every part of his body hurt. He could not get up. As soon as he tried to move, his head felt as if someone drove an axe in.

  So he did not move.

  His dizziness did not seem to pass. Even though he remained motionless for a while it did not subside. As he did not feel like getting up, he tried to remember what happened, but everything was a blur. He had vague memories of a giant rock, ready to smash him.

  He heard a low chuckle.

  _Now that was a first timer,_ Jack thought. _I can’t remember getting dashed to pieces… and I shouldn’t do that again._

  Deciding that he could not lie there forever, Jack pushed himself up to a sitting position. Now he noticed that the ground was soft, like sofa cushions, but it was broader than a couch. Patting around he found more cushions beside himself and he leaned against it with a sigh.

  A moan finally made him open his eyes.

  Soft light filled the room. One look was enough for Jack to know why the ground was so soft as well as the walls. They all were padded, even the door.

  _Where am I now?_

  Letting his eyes roam through the empty room, he found the source of the moan. In a corner crouched someone with dark unruly hair. Judging by the deep voice Jack could tell that it was a man. He sounded distressed, the moans rising to groans.

  Unexpectedly the man hit the wall with his fist. He jumped to his feet and ran across the room into another wall.

  With horror Jack heard himself scream in agony and pound his fists against the pads.

  _What happened to me? No! That can not happen! Please, no!_

  The door opened and another man came in. He held plastic dishes and a plastic cup.

  _Nothing I could hurt him or myself with,_ Jack thought bitterly.

_“Easy, Jack,” the man said. “Come. Let us sit down. I brought you something to eat.”_

_“No. Can’t. Have to get out of here,” Jack replied and tried to slip through the door before it closed, but he was not fast enough._

_“Is it important, Jack?” the man asked. He was as tall as Jack with strawberry blond hair and green eyes._

  In some ways he appeared familiar, but Jack was sure that he had never met the man before. He would remember a face like that. Besides, as this was his future it stood to reason that he had not met him yet.

_“I’ve got to go. Shindaii! Hai no Shindaii kun!”_

  Jack frowned, unable to place the language. That in itself was strange.

_“There are no Shindaii, Jack,” the other man said in a calming tone. “Come. Let’s have something to eat.”_

_“Out!” Jack screamed and ran into the door. Frantically he searched for a non existing handle. “Out! Let me out!”_

_“I could…” the man mused, “if you would not try and tear the other walls down, too. I can’t let you go in this condition. I’m sorry, Jack.”_

  Jack saw honest regret in the man’s features and once again something triggered recognition in him even though he still was sure that he never saw him.

  _Finally Jack settled down beside the other man who opened the dish to reveal pasta with meatballs._

  Jack noticed that, though the plate held a fork, there was no knife. And the food looked like it had already been cut up into smaller pieces…

_“Here, Jack,” he said, giving him the plastic fork. “The food you asked for.” He sighed when he watched Jack take the first forkful. “This should never have happened to you. I should have been able to stop it. Let me take care of you now.”_

  Jack ate, but it did not look as if he enjoyed his meal. He barely chewed and could hardly taste his food. Jack thought that his future self was only eating out of instinct.

_The man put his arm around Jack’s shoulders and rubbed gently his upper arm._

_“I will help you, Jack. I promise you can trust me. I won’t let you down again.”_

  A soft vibration went through the room and low hums added comfort to the man’s words. Jack could feel and hear them and suddenly he realized where he was and who he was watching.

  “Doctor!” he gasped. “We’re in the TARDIS!”

  His stomach turned.

  Jack had to get out of here. This future scared him. What had happened to him that he lost his marbles? Was it that he could not find rest? Was he exhausted by his long life? Did he lose it because he could not stand living when everyone he knew died around him?

  Jack felt an overwhelming surge of claustrophobia. All he wanted was to get out. Out of the room, out of the TARDIS, out of this nightmare.

  The Doctor passed him and the TARDIS unlocked the door for him. Jack darted out before the Doctor could make a step through. He ran through the corridors in search for the exit. When he found the console room, he rushed over to the door and pulled it open.

  Once out, Jack did not care where he ran.

  It was dark outside. Almost too dark. Jack stumbled, running so fast he was not bothering to check for obstacles in his path.

  _Good that we weren’t in flight,_ he thought fleetingly, _trying to travel through the vortex outside the TARDIS would be hell._

  There was no sign of the damned Master. How was he supposed to get away from here?

  Running.

  Running.

  Running.

  Suddenly his foot stepped into emptiness. Jack was so startled he did not even try and stop himself. By the time he realised he probably should it was too late. He was already dropping like a stone.

  Falling.

  Falling.

  Falling.

  Jack screamed.

 

tbc…


	5. The end of it - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!

  Jack was twisting in the air. The sensation of falling was sickening. He had no idea how far he had fallen or how deep the abyss still was, because it was absolutely dark. There was nothing he could see except blackness.

  Jack screamed.

  Struggling, he tried to turn. Flailing his arms, he searched hold somewhere, anywhere. Still he dropped into unknown depths.

  Jack’s arms were trapped. Something flapped into his face and he tried to brush it away.

  Then he hit the ground.

  Surprisingly it did not hurt as much as he had expected.

  He did not die.

  Feeling around, he brushed over fabric and pulled it aside. It slid off his face and now he could see a light shimmer above him. It was a big round hole. A ladder leaned beneath it.

  Then it hit him.

  He was in his bunker.

  He fell out of bed.

  Blood shot to his face. Jack could sense his cheeks heat up.

  “A nightmare,” he panted. “It was a bloody nightmare.”

  Up in his office the grandfather clock struck two.

  Remembering that he had let Myfanwy out, Jack put on his boots, climbed out of the hole and went to open the hatch. Just a moment later, the pterodactyl glided in and landed in his nest.

  Only now, Jack took his time to think about what had happened. He strolled over to the kitchen area, contemplating if he should try and make coffee, but he never really understood the silvery machine Ianto worked miracles with. So he decided against coffee. His heart still beat frantically anyway.

  _For a nightmare I remember it pretty well,_ Jack thought. _It was as vivid as if I really made those trips. Just like the travels I used to make during my time with the Agency._

  It was true. Now that he tried to recall the night’s events, he saw the beach of Boeshane, he smelled the salt of the sea in the air. He watched Ianto with his parents and he saw the Daleks in Cardiff.

  Tears shot in his eyes.

  _Time’s short and precious. If not for me then for the people I love._

  Love.

  It was the first time he admitted to himself that there were people he loved. People who were worth that he showed them his affection.

  _My love._

  Chills ran down Jack’s back when he thought of Ianto. He loved Ianto. The young Welshman owned his heart and seeing what could happen if he did not allow himself to love Jack finally fell hard for him.

  But there was more.

  Feeling a sudden rush of energy, Jack ran down in the vaults to the storage rooms. There he rummaged through piles of boxes, in search for decorations former Torchwood employees had used.

  Jack carried everything he found up to the central hub and started to work.

 

xXx

 

  Startled awake by the proximity alarm, Jack almost fell out of his office chair.

  “Damn!” he gasped as he caught his fall. “I only wanted to sit down for a moment.”

  Obviously that moment turned out to be a little longer. A quick look at his watch told Jack that it most likely was Ianto who came to work. It was only seven. So Jack got up and went from his office into the main Hub to see who arrived.

  “Good morning, sir,” Ianto greeted him when he saw him emerge. He already was on his way to the kitchen area.

  “Good morning, Ianto,” Jack replied and sighed clearly audibly. “Coffee.”

  When he heard Jack enter behind him, Ianto said, “I take it that it was a calm night, sir.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “If you had time to decorate the whole Hub…”

  “Yeah…” Jack murmured.

  Ianto still was busy making coffee, when Jack’s right arm wrapped around his shoulders from behind and the left hand took hold of his hip. He took a sharp breath when Jack snuggled up to him.

  “Shouldn’t I finish preparing the coffee first?” Ianto teased, craning his neck to look at the captain.

  “In a moment,” Jack rasped, turning the young Welshman around and claiming his lips with his own. His arms closed around him and held him tight while he intensified the kiss.

  “What was that for?” Ianto panted when Jack released him.

  “I just felt like it,” Jack replied with one of his famous grins.

  “Then this probably was not a good idea.”

  Ianto tried to turn out of his arms, but Jack would not let him go.

  “Jack! Stop it!”

  “Don’t want to,” Jack pouted. “I missed you.”

  That made Ianto frown with suspicion. What was Jack up to?

  “I was only gone for the night.”

  “Too long.”

  Now Ianto definitely felt uneasy.

  “I don’t want to be your toy,” he grumbled, pushing himself off Jack as far as his hold allowed. “Let go of me.”

  “You…” Jack was thunderstruck for a moment, but then he could see where he made his mistake. “You’re not my toy,” he said, his voice suddenly hoarse. “Please believe me that you’re anything but my toy.”

  Joy lit up in Ianto’s eyes but faded quickly.

  “Now you’re making fun of me,” he accused.

  “Ianto!”

  Jack looked seriously hurt and Ianto hesitated.

  Lightly massaging Ianto’s back with his thumbs, Jack murmured, “Is it too late to come to your parents with you?”

  Once more Ianto shoved him back a bit, this time to look at him quizzically.

  “Are you kidding me? If you are, quit the shit, Captain Harkness.”

  “I’m not kidding, Ianto,” Jack softly said. “I’d love to get to know them.” Then he beamed at him. “Isn’t Christmas the perfect opportunity to meet the parents of one’s boyfriend?”

  “Boyfriend?” Ianto frowned.

  “Lover.”

  Ianto frowned even deeper.

  “Fiancé?”

  “Jack!” Ianto slapped his shoulder. “Stop kidding around!”

  “I’m not kidding…” Jack mumbled, already nuzzling Ianto’s ear as he pulled him into his embrace again.

  Melting into his captain’s hold, Ianto returned his affection. The young man was putty in his hands and Jack enjoyed it with an innocent delight. Their lips found each other again. When Ianto leaned against him, their mouths glued together in a passionate kiss, Jack shoved his free hand into his lover’s trousers. A few expert strokes were enough.

  With obvious glee Jack welcomed Ianto’s gasp down his throat.

  Trapped between the hand and Jack’s obvious excitement, Ianto experienced a rush of arousal.

  And that was when Jack let go of him.

  “Didn’t you say you wanted to make coffee?” Jack asked innocently. “I’m waiting.”

  All Ianto could do was trying to keep standing. He was shuddering. The sudden loss of contact caught him off guard.

  “You could make the coffee now,” Jack said, his smile turning to a smirk. “If you can.”

  Ianto just reached out for Jack to pull him back into an embrace, when the proximity alarm disturbed them.

  _Shit!_ Ianto thought, backing off Jack. His face was flushed and his trousers did nothing to hide his arousal.

  “Hey, Jack!” they heard Gwen’s voice wave up to them. Looking down, they saw her enter through the cog door, almost blinded by the load of stuff she was carrying. “I’m not gonna take no for an answer. I brought some fir branches and streamers and ornaments and we’re gonna brighten…” She lowered her baggage beside her desk. “the Hub… up… a… bit.”

  She trailed off when she looked up and was confronted with what Jack had done in the night.

  “Wow!” she exclaimed.

  Ianto was glad that she got distracted by the decorations. So he could turn unnoticed to the coffee machine and continue with brewing the first coffee of the day. Inside of him something else was brewing. He could hardly concentrate on his task. All he could think about were Jack’s hands on his body.

  _Maybe I should just grab him and pull him down to the vaults with me,_ he thought, but dismissed the idea.

  Once more the proximity alarm went off, announcing another arrival. A moment later Toshiko and Owen entered the main Hub. Both froze in their tracks when they spotted the decorations.

  “How long has Gwen been here already?” Owen panted at the sight of long streamers and boughs of fir and holly. “I can’t believe it!”

  “This… looks… great!” Tosh remarked, amazed. “It must have taken you forever!”

  “It wasn’t that much work,” Jack replied.

  “You could’ve tried to keep her from turning the Hub into a Harrods’ showcase!” Owen growled, holding a bough aside to reach the autopsy bay and vanishing down the stairs.

  “I could have,” Jack mused, “if it would’ve been Gwen.”

  “Gwen?” Toshiko turned to her colleague with obvious confusion.

  “My stuff’s still in the bags and boxes,” Gwen pouted. “I found the Hub like it is.”

  “Jack, did you do it?”

  “Yep,” the captain smirked. “Do you like it?”

  “It’s wonderful,” Tosh praised. “Especially the tree.”

  They all gathered around said tree. It was tall, reaching up to half of the height of the first walkway, and dark green. Its branches were covered with countless fairy lights, shimmering ornaments in different colours, wooden ornaments of snowmen, reindeer, birds, angels and many more, as well as straw stars and glittering streamers.

  “Where did you find that stuff?” Owen growled as he rejoined them.

  Jack grinned.

  “Vaults,” Ianto murmured, distracted by the idea of finding a calm spot there as well.

  “Did you know where it was?” Jack asked. “I had to search Alex’s boxes.”

  “Sure I knew,” Ianto pouted.

  “Something is still missing, though,” Gwen remarked.

  “And what would that be?” Jack asked, confused.

  “Presents. There are no presents under the tree.”

  Now Jack laughed out loud.

  “Guess that’s because Santa wasn’t here yet,” he laughed. “But first we still have work to do, right? So… everyone back to business.”

  Owen rolled his eyes and strode back to the autopsy bay. He still had to examine a Millennium Bug.

  Toshiko and Gwen took place at their workstations.

  Jack returned to his office and Ianto to his coffee machine. A few minutes later the young Welshman reappeared with a tray to distribute the mugs to his co-workers.

  “Jack?” he said when he gave the captain his coffee mug. His nerves fluttered as he sensed Jack’s fingers brush over his own before he took the pot.

  “What is it, Ianto?”

  Jack’s smile made Ianto’s insides rumble. “I would like to go through some artefacts with you, sir. I archived a whole bunch but I’m still not sure how to categorize some of them.”

  “Okay, Ianto,” Jack agreed. “Why don’t you go down to the archives and I’ll be with you as soon as I finished my coffee. Okay?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  All the way down to the vaults Ianto wondered if the electrons running wild in his body were due to arousal or to bad conscience at lying to his captain. The archives were in perfect order. Actually he suspected that Jack knew that as well.

  So he was not sure about what to expect when he heard steps approach from behind until he felt Jack’s hands on his hips and his mouth on his neck, nuzzling its way up to his ear. Tilting his head to the side he granted the captain access.

  “Hmmm,” Jack moaned. “A foretaste of the Christmas dinner…”

  Spinning around Ianto shoved Jack face forward against the wall and grabbed for his belt. In a matter of seconds he had it undone and the trousers slid down his legs.

  Upstairs in the main Hub, Toshiko readjusted a CCTV camera.

  “Gwen,” she hissed, gesturing her colleague to come over.

  Eagerly Gwen complied and joined Tosh in front of the workstation. Their gazes were captured by one of the monitors.

  “Wow! Those bodies…!”

  “Yeah…”

  “What’s up, ladies?” Owen grumbled as he passed the desk behind them and stopped short when he spotted what they were watching. “Okay, I take back the _ladies_. You think it’s okay to watch?”

  Both nodded.

  “You’re taking on Jack’s bad habits, girls,” Owen teased, but was unable to turn his view away from the screen.

  “How did they do _that_?” Tosh wondered, tilting her head to the side.

  “No idea,” Gwen said, shaking her head.

  Then all they could see was a panting heap of flesh on the ground.

  That was when the Rift alert sounded.

 

tbc…


	6. The end of it - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, ukdramafan! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas time. The epilogue will follow tomorrow. Enjoy!

  It was afternoon when they returned to the Hub.

  Jack had left his team to run an errand, or better, to pick up what he had asked Idris Hopper to get for him. The young man who worked for the mayor’s office had not been that enthusiastic, but Jack managed to talk him into doing him that favour.

  “I’m so grateful, Idris,” Jack said and wrapped one arm around the young man who went stiff under the affectionate gesture.

  “Jack,” he reprimanded him.

  “No, seriously, Idris,” Jack murmured, leaning in and kissing him on the pouting lips. “You saved my life.”

  “Stop kidding, Jack.” Idris was not in the right mood. “I have enough to do without you getting snowed in, in the middle of the night and asking me to do your last-minute-shopping. That’s why you’ll have to go here yourself,” he pushed a slip of paper in Jack’s hand. “I’m too short of time to get there, too.”

  “Okay, Idris. I owe you.”

  “Yes, you do. Will you ever pay back your debts?”

  “I will… one day.”

  “Cool, Jack. Take care. Don’t cross my path again until then.”

  “Idris. What a waste. I’d love to refresh our relationship.”

  “I have no idea how I could ever… Leave me alone, Jack.”

  “See you, Idris,” Jack smirked and smacked another kiss on Idris’s cheek.

  The young man rolled his eyes and went in the opposite direction.

  Jack had to run, though. On the slip of paper were the shop hours and he had less than half an hour to reach the _Stitch In Time_. From there he hurried back to the Hub and arrived at the tourist office just in time to meet the deliverer of the restaurant where he had placed his order.

  So Jack, loaded with numerous bags and two Styrofoam boxes that kept the food warm, rode down to the Hub. Upon entering he yelled, “Ianto!”

  The young man came running and took the boxes.

  “Kitchen,” Jack said curtly and carried the bags over to the Christmas tree. All of the packages were already wrapped and cards hung from the bows. So Jack shoved them under the lowest branches and went to join Ianto. When he came up the young Welshman just opened one lid.

  “Whoa!” Ianto exclaimed as a cloud of fragrant aroma escaped the box.

  “Not yet,” Jack said and pushed the lid back down. “Can you help me with the table?”

  “Sure.”

  So Jack lifted the last of his bags up to the counter and removed a big carton out of which he got new dishes. There were a tablecloth, candles, candleholders and blue glass stones for decoration. Before Jack could take the dishes and bring them over to the boardroom Ianto took them and sat them into the sink.

  “You did a great job with the Hub,” Ianto said. “Now show me that you can manage the table, too.”

  Jack scowled, but grabbed the decorations and left the kitchen area. Smirking at his back Ianto rolled his eyes and turned to the sink to wash the dishes. Once finished he brought them to the boardroom and placed them on the tablecloth along with cutlery and glasses. Then he put up the candleholder and distributed the decorative stones around it.

  “Now let’s get the food,” Jack suggested.

  “Okay.”

  A few minutes later Jack called them all for dinner.

  “Wow!” shouted the girls and Owen made at least an astonished face.

  “Now that’s a surprise,” the medic grumbled.

  “That’s a giant turkey!” Gwen said, stunned, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m hungry after sorting out that scene, but I don’t think that we’ll be able to finish this bird off.”

  “Especially not when I look at all the vegetables,” Toshiko added.

  “Well, we won’t have to order anything tomorrow,” Ianto said.

  “Or the day after tomorrow,” Owen added wryly.

  “Or New Year’s Eve,” Tosh chuckled. “C’mon. It’s getting cold.

  So they settled down in their seats around the table. Only Jack remained standing at the head. Thoughtfully he let his gaze wander over his team members, searching for words.

  “Honestly… I don’t really know what to say,” he finally admitted. “I was a fool to refuse to celebrate Christmas with you.” He better ignored Gwen’s grin. “What should I say? I’m working with the best. You deserve the best because… because I love you, all of you.”

  Silence fell.

  “Now let’s keep this turkey from getting cold. Merry Christmas! Enjoy!”

  Jack sat down and looked at Ianto, silently pleading with him to carve the bird, but Toshiko was faster. Expertly she sliced pieces out of the turkey and gave each of her team-mates a portion. They helped themselves to side dishes and ate happily.

  “Delicious,” Gwen stated after her second big helping, “but I’m full.”

  “I’m more than full,” Toshiko said. “It was so good, I just couldn’t stop. I’m afraid that I’ll be late for my party and I won’t be able to eat anything, but it was definitely worth it.”

  “Yeah, you bought a great turkey,” Owen added. “Wise choice.”

  “Thanks, Owen,” Jack chuckled.

  “It was wonderful, Jack,” Ianto told him quietly with a warm smile. “A great meal and an even better idea.”

  “As we won’t see each other tomorrow unless an emergency comes up… you wanna unwrap your presents now?” Jack beamed at them.

  “Okay, under one condition,” Owen said.

  “Which condition?” Gwen asked, confused.

  “Ianto will unwrap his present in private.”

  For a few seconds stunned silence reigned before the others burst out with laughter.

  “Mr. Owen Harper,” Gwen admonished him. “Shame on you!”

  “Dr. Harper,” Owen corrected.

  Jack grinned roguishly.

  Toshiko hid her amusement behind her hand.

  Ianto blushed a deep crimson.

  “Actually, Owen,” Jack said, “you’re the one with the lewd present. You need to spice up your sex life.”

  “Jack!” That was Gwen again.

  “You wouldn’t dare…” Owen growled.

  “No, but you needed punishment for that remark.” Actually Jack did rather look like he enjoyed it, but he knew that Ianto thought differently.

  “Okay, I don’t want to appear too curious,” Toshiko said, “but as you know, I’m invited to a Christmas party.”

  “Then let’s go downstairs and see what Santa brought us,” Jack suggested. “C’mon! Go!” he ushered them out, waving his arms.

  Ianto was the last to leave and he stopped at the door.

  “That really was a good idea, sir,” he said.

  “If you call me _sir_ one more time…” Jack growled through his mischievous smirk. “C’mon. Let’s join the others.”

  “This one’s for Owen,” Gwen said, checking out the card attached to the package she had pulled out from under the tree and giving it to the doctor. Then she got out the next present. “And that’s yours, Tosh.”

  Smiling the computer expert took the surprisingly heavy wrapped box and opened it carefully. When she removed the lid and pulled out the tissue paper she found a cast iron tea pot, decorated with ginkgo leaves, and two matching cups. She was stunned. Then she spotted a small box in one of the cups. Taking it out and opening it, she discovered a pendant. Gasping for breath she dropped it.

  “It’s a replica, Tosh,” Jack rushed to explain. _Did I make a mistake?_ “It’s only glass. It doesn’t do anything.”

  “Why?” she rasped.

  “To remember, Toshiko,” he murmured. “I had no other choice but to kill her. You loved her and you should remember that love.”

  For a moment she looked undecided. “Thank you, Jack,” she murmured and before he even knew it she threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

  “Wow.” Owen actually sounded impressed. “That’s a… a… rare first issue of my favourite comic. How…?”

  “Actually a friend found it,” Jack admitted. “So I picked the right one?”

  “Oh, yeah. But what’s this supposed to be?” He held up hardcover copies of Henry Miller’s _Tropic of Cancer_ and its sequel _Tropic of Capricorn_.

  “Read them and you won’t have to ask a second time,” Jack simply said.

  Owen frowned.

  “You won’t,” Ianto confirmed.

  “You know the books?” Jack asked, surprised.

  “I know everything, Jack.”

  That made them all chuckle.

  “Here’s yours, Ianto,” Gwen said and held it out to him. “Then this has to be mine.”

  Ianto waited until she had unwrapped her package and removed the content.

  “What the bloody hell…!” Gwen panted. “That’s… wow!” She shrieked. She held the item out with both hands, then pressed it to her body only to hold it out again to stare at it in wonder. “A Maya Hansen corset! I can’t believe it! This thing costs a fortune! Jack! That was not necessary!”

  “I know. I’m sure Rhys will enjoy it.”

  “I’ll enjoy it. Oh, my God!” She fell into Jack’s arms who hugged her tight and kissed her forehead. Then she blushed as she suddenly realized that her boss presented her with lingerie. When another thought crossed her mind she blurted out, “How did you know my size?”

  “Hey!” he laughed. “I have two eyes!”

  “Jack.”

  “And you have your spare clothes in your locker.”

  They laughed.

  “Just remember your promise,” he murmured and they shared a deep look at each other.

  _Cling to that normal life,_ it echoed in Gwen’s head like she heard it for the first time. Yes, she remembered that. She had a life outside of Torchwood. She had promised to Jack to keep a grip on that life.

  While they all admired the corset Ianto quietly unwrapped his present to reveal a copy of _The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book_. He smiled. It was far from being as expensive as the other presents, but it was thoughtful and right down his alley.

  “Thank you, Jack,” he murmured. He opened the book to flip through some pages, but Jack would not let him.

  “You’re welcome, Ianto,” he said, wrapping his arms around the younger man. “Merry Christmas.”

  And with that he kissed him.

  On the lips.

  Passionately.

  It was the first true expression of his affection in front of the team. Ianto was stunned. He was used to quick grabs and innuendos, Jack flirted with everyone and everything, but this was different.

  Jack’s mouth continued to press against his and slowly Ianto caved, returning the kiss reluctantly first but becoming more passionate before they finally split up again. Once more his cheeks were reddened, this time with arousal.

  An amused snort drew their attention back to Owen.

  “I’m out of here,” the young medic announced, a lascivious grin splitting his features as he snapped the book shut. “Gotta read.”

  “Wait, Owen!” Jack shouted and let go of Ianto to run to his office. When he returned he held the Bekkaran device, the alien medical scanner, in his hand and held it out to Owen. “Don’t forget your original plans,” he said and pushed the scanner in the medic’s hands, thinking of the little boy Owen would save. “Use it wisely. Don’t attract attention. And tomorrow morning it’s back on my desk. Clear?”

  Owen gaped at him but nodded. “Crystal,” he rasped when he found his speech again. “Okay, I’m gone.”

  “Have a great night, Owen,” Jack said and the others bid him goodbye, too. Tosh and Gwen also used the opportunity to leave.

  “Oh, Tosh!” Jack shouted as she already was halfway through the cog door, because he remembered the game he had witnessed. “If anyone should ask you… The name _The Blitz_ is a shortening of the German term _Blitzkrieg_.”

  Confused she stared at him.

  “I know,” she said, suspiciously. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

  “Nope. Have a great night.”

  Nodding slowly, Tosh followed Gwen out. So only Jack and Ianto remained at the Hub.

  “Are you ready to go?” Jack asked.

  “Ready to go?”

  “To your parents,” Jack specified. “Don’t they expect you tonight?”

  “Um, yeah.” Ianto shifted his position uncomfortably. Obviously he was not sure about what to do next.

  “If you don’t mind I still want to accompany you,” Jack told him with a sincere and loving smile. “I’d love to get to know them.”

  “You really mean that?” Ianto asked sceptically.

  “Yes.”

  Ianto eyed the captain intently but could not find any sign of insincerity.

  “In that case,” he said. “Let’s go.”

 

xXx

 

  Snow covered the pasture and made it look peaceful, muffling any sound. Ianto drove carefully and even slower when they approached his parents’ house. His car was the only one out here. Suddenly he pulled off onto the shoulder.

  “What’s wrong?” Jack asked instantly, turning in the passenger seat to face Ianto.

  “Nothing. Just thinking.”

  “You’re not just thinking,” Jack accused him. “You’re brooding… and I have a feeling as if I’m the reason.”

  The young Welshman remained silent for a while. His forehead creased into thoughtful lines while his hands still wrapped around the steering wheel, his knuckles shining white. Something was really bothering him.

  “Spit it out!” Jack pushed.

  “I…” Ianto trailed off again rather helplessly. “What you got… for the others, it was really sweet and thoughtful and… expensive. And then you…”

  “I gave you a James Bond Fan Book,” Jack finished for him. “Ianto, look at me.”

  Slowly he turned his head to face Jack.

  _Am I mistaken or are there tears in his eyes?_ Jack mused. Carefully he reached out for him and cupped his cheek tenderly.

  “Actually it’s supposed to be a surprise, but I have another present for you to place under your parents’ tree.” He closely watched him. “Ianto. You’re very important to me. Why would I want to go to your parents with you on Christmas if you wouldn’t mean the world to me? I just thought you should have something to open tomorrow, too.”

  Ianto was not sure if he heard right. He desperately wanted to believe it. His heart ached with love for the captain. At first he did not want to allow himself to love again so soon after Lisa’s death, but then he could not help but give in to it.

  Then he got hurt.

  Ianto had fallen for Jack and when it looked like he was nothing more than a part-time shag for him, it ripped his heart out.

  Now, he derided himself for his selfishness. Jack’s suddenly open affection and willingness to spend the holiday with him and his family should be gift enough.

  “Please, Ianto,” Jack said, brushing his thumb over his cheekbone. He could hear the three words in his head, but he could not bring himself to voice them. _Damn!_ “I imagine an old house with a big tree in the cosy living room and this present will fit there much better than at the Hub.”

  Swallowing a moan at the sight of Jack’s pleading puppy dog eyes, Ianto twisted out of his gentle hold and started the car. It was not far now. A few minutes later, he drove up on the court and stopped in front of the house. When they alighted from the car, his mother came out of the house!

  “Ianto! I’m so glad that you made it!” she shouted, trudging through the snow and throwing her arms around her son in a crushing hug. When she released him, she asked, “Who’s your friend?”

  “Mam, this is my boss…”

  “Captain Jack Harkness,” Jack introduced himself, taking her extended hand and breathing a kiss on it. One of his patented boyish smiles split his features. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Jones.”

  She smiled back at him. “Enid, and the pleasure’s on my side. Come on in. We’re about to eat. Oh, Sioned will be soooo happy to see you, Ianto.”

  Both men took their bags out of the car and, talking animatedly, Enid herded them inside. Ianto went straight to the stairs, heading for the first floor where he vanished in a room. Jack followed him.

  “This is where you grew up?” Jack asked.

  “Yep.”

  “Really nice place.”

  “Mam will make the couch your bed, I guess.”

  Jack scowled at him over a mischievous grin and Ianto rolled his eyes. He put his stuff into the wardrobe and then they went back downstairs.

  “Oh, one more thing,” Ianto said, stopping at the foot of the stairs and turning to Jack to intercept him. “Flirt with my Mam, flirt with my sister, hell, even flirt with Meredith! But if you try to do more than flirting you’ll sleep in the barn.”

  Jack chuckled. He liked that idea and even more so when he thought of Ianto being with him in the hay. “Any other rule?”

  “Flirt with my Tad and you’ll sleep in the courtyard.”

  “Did you see the snow? It’s freezing! I could die out there!”

  “Then you had better behave yourself,” Ianto smirked and led the way to the dining room. There he introduced Jack to the rest of his family. They all were taken with him at once, especially Sioned. Before Jack could say anything she started to flirt with him unashamedly.

  Jack grinned at Ianto.

  Enid Jones served the food and they ate and talked and had a really good time. Jack praised Enid’s cooking skills until she blushed. After dinner they changed from the dining room to the living room.

  As Jack had seen on his trip with John the big Christmas tree stood in one corner of the room, the fairy lights sparkling. Cookies were on the coffee table and soon hot coffee and tea joined the treats.

  “Let me guess, Enid” Jack mumbled, munching on a cookie, “you made the chocolate cookies and Sioned the stars and macaroons.”

  Both women stared at each other with surprise. “That’s right,” Sioned said. “How could you tell?”

  “Lucky guess,” Jack smirked. “It’s delicious. They all are.”

  Sioned smiled and her cheeks flushed a little.

  “Your mince pies also are great, Ianto,” Jack added, smirking at him. “The best I’ve ever tried.” He loved the blush he caused. Ianto never did well with compliments. Following his instinct Jack took Ianto’s hand.

  The affectionate gesture did not remain unnoticed. Enid Jones saw it as well as Sioned, whose eyes almost popped out of her head, and Meredith, who was honestly irritated by that open display of their closeness.

  As time went by, one after the other said good night and retreated for the night. Soon the house lay silent. Outside snow was falling.

  Enid could not find sleep. She got up to get a cup of water. Passing Ianto’s room, she stopped by the door and risked to push it open a little. Peeking through the gap, she was greeted by a sweet sight. Ianto in bed, the covers pulled up, his boss, _Or should I say boyfriend?_ Enid wondered, snuggling up to his back, one arm wrapped around him.

  Smiling to herself, she returned to her own bed, slipping under the covers beside Gawain. Now she slept like a baby.

 

xXx

 

  In the middle of the night Ianto awoke with a start. When he suddenly sat up, he also woke Jack who turned to him, concerned.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I can’t stand it any longer,” Ianto murmured and swung his legs over the bed’s edge to get up.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Downstairs,” Ianto said. “It’s Christmas Day. So technically…”

  Jack chuckled.

  “So, you’re not curious, are you?” he whispered, amused, and followed his lover on bare feet down to the living room. _How romantic, in pyjamas under the Christmas tree…_

  Stalking in Ianto switched on the lights and when he reached the tree he picked up a package and gave it to Jack.

  “For me?” the captain cheered excitedly. “I get a present, too? Thank you, Ianto.”

  Jack beamed at him. The sight warmed Ianto’s heart. Oh, he loved him so much. If Jack would only return his love.

  “Maybe you should open it,” he suggested.

  “Glenn Miller?” Jack gasped when he unwrapped the CDs. “How could you know?”

  “I saw your face when they played it on the radio,” Ianto said softly. “No idea what it could be that you’re remembering, but I knew it was something very important for you.”

  “Yeah,” he rasped. “It is.” Memories of Rose and the Doctor dancing in the TARDIS rose and tears lurked in his eyes. “Thank you, Ianto.”

  Jack needed another moment to collect himself, but then he took another present from under the tree and gave it to Ianto.

  “Merry Christmas, Ianto,” he said.

  It was not very big. Ianto turned it over in his hands repeatedly, trying to guess what was inside, but he had no idea. So he had no other choice but to fumble the wrapping open. The box inside was printed with the name of the shop, _A Stitch In Time_.

  _How fitting,_ Ianto thought and opened the lid.

  On a velvet pad lay a silver fob watch on a chain.

  Ianto gasped.

  He lifted the watch off its bed to examine it closer. It had a fine engraving on the top cover as well as on the bottom.

  “It’s wonderful, Jack. Thank you.” Spontaneously he threw his arms around Jack and embraced him.

  “You should open it,” Jack suggested.

  Raising an eyebrow at Jack with irritation Ianto did as he was told… and slapped one hand over his mouth to keep himself from yelping. Then he fell quite silent. Finally he murmured, “Jack… are you sure that… you know what this engraving on the inside says?”

  “Yes, I’m sure,” Jack told him.

  “Really?” Ianto asked, still sceptical. “It’s Welsh.”

  “I really do know, Ianto. Or did he probably mistranslate?” Suddenly scared that his carefully chosen words got distorted by translation, Jack craned his neck, but could not see what Ianto saw. “What does it say?”

  “It says,” Ianto rasped, barely able to speak at all, “Cara ‘ch, Ianto. Gures. Jack.”

  “And that means?”

  Ianto was choked up. He was hard to understand when he whispered, “I love you, Ianto. Forever. Jack.”

  Raising his gaze, he looked right into the pale blue eyes of his captain. The image blurred when tears formed in Ianto’s eyes. Unable to keep his emotions in check anymore, Ianto threw himself in Jack’s waiting arms, hugging him tight.

  “Cara ‘ch, cariad,” he sobbed. “Gwna mo gollwng che.”

  Holding Ianto tight in response Jack shuddered. “What did you say?” he asked shakily.

  “I love you, too, cariad. Don’t let go… of me.”

  _Not for the life of me,_ Jack thought, pulling Ianto even closer. Their lips found each other and they locked in a passionate kiss.

  “You’re my best Christmas present ever,” Ianto murmured close to Jack’s ear. “I love you, cariad.”

  “I love you, too.” This time the words came over Jack’s lips easily.

  Once more they kissed passionately. Their caresses developed to more, right beneath the Christmas tree, as they removed each other’s _wrapping_.

  Ianto was stunned by how easy it was to give himself up to Jack. His lover’s hot body brushed against his as Jack pulled one of the sheepskins from the sofa and spread it on the ground.

  Jack never let Ianto move up on it but lifted him off the ground to place him gently on the soft sheepskin. Then he switched the main light off and plugged the lights of the tree in. In their light he reverently looked down at Ianto before he started to caress him again.

  “I’m not sure if this is such a bright idea,” Ianto murmured as Jack swirled his tongue around his left nipple, massaging the other with his fingertips.

  “Don’t you enjoy it?”

  “I do, I really do, just…”

  For a moment Jack raised his head to smirk at him. “Scared?”

  Ianto scowled. “Can you specify that?”

  Now Jack laughed out loud.

  “Shhh!” Ianto hushed, grabbing Jack’s head and pulling him in for a passionate kiss to silence him. Jack’s chuckles tickled.

  Desperate to keep him quiet, Ianto tried everything to hold Jack close to him, but the captain’s hands trailed over his whole body, leaving his skin hot and tickling where they passed. Soon one hand found Ianto’s pride and started to caress him.

  Shifting his position, Jack pushed one leg between Ianto’s.

  “Jaaack,” Ianto moaned, sensing that he was about to lose control.

  Which was exactly what Jack wanted. He loved it when Ianto squirmed, moaned, groaned, and howled as response to his affections. The young Welshman always was so controlled that the contrast was even more enjoyable.

  Wetting his fingers first, Jack started to prepare Ianto and elicited first uncontrolled moans from his lover. Ianto’s breathing accelerated and he clawed at Jack in search for something to hold on to. Instead, his fingers dug into the thick sheepskin.

  “Jaaaaack!”

  One of Ianto’s heels thumped on the wooden floor, echoing through the house. Jack could feel Ianto shudder with anxiety.

  “Not goooood,” Ianto groaned, biting in his own fist to suppress more treacherous sounds.

  Jack did not let himself be fooled. He knew that he had Ianto where he wanted him. Once more shifting his position, he dove in slowly until he could not get further.

  Ianto’s eyes were wide open as was his mouth. Arching his back, he tried to give Jack full access.

  Then he froze.

  They heard steps on the stairs and a moment later the lights flicked on, shining on the barrel of a rifle pushed in their direction by Gawain.

  _Oh, fuck!_

  Ianto was mortified, even more so as Jack flashed his most dazzling smile at Ianto’s father, shouting, “Merry Christmas!”

  _Oh, yeah,_ Ianto thought, _Merry Christmas._

  “Who’s in there?” Sioned asked anxiously from the hall. Around her father’s shoulders she tried to peek into the living room at the would-be burglars, but he shifted his position to block her view.

  _Oh no! Not Sioned, not Mam, not anybody. Just go away…_ Ianto rolled his eyes. Jack was not keeping still and even his small movements caused him the most delightful sensations. Unable to concentrate on his father any longer, he lay on the sheepskin, shuddering, clutching at the wool.

  Gawain lowered his rifle and smirked. “Just Ianto and his friend enjoying the lights and sharing some Christmas cheer,” he said, turning to shoo the rest of the family who gathered in the hall away. “There’s nothing to see,” he added and almost choked on the words with suppressed laughter.

  _Nothing to see?_ Jack looked down at Ianto who was, by now, a quivering mess, and grinned. He thought that the sight was breathtaking.

  When he looked up again, Gawain was gone. He could hear them argue on their way back upstairs. Jack chuckled and the vibration that caused sent renewed shivers through Ianto. So it did not take Jack much effort to push Ianto over the edge and he followed a few seconds later.

  When he settled down beside Ianto on the sheepskin, Jack murmured into his ear.

  “I love you, Ianto. Merry Christmas.”

 


	7. Epilogue: The insight of the initial spirit

  Even though he still could see a variety of possible futures, he could still sense that some scenarios were more likely than others.

  He leaned in his seat in the console room of the TARDIS, his feet on the control board, and stared at the ceiling, letting his mind wander. They did not go too far into the future. He wanted to explore the results of his efforts carefully. There he saw a first scenario.

  “He’s been sick all day,” a worried looking young woman said. A boy was holding her hand and leaning against her leg.

  “I’m a doctor,” Owen Harper said. “I could take a look at him.”

  “That would be great.” She tried a shaky smile. “We were at the hospital with him, but the doctor there could not tell me what’s wrong. He sent us away with a prescription for drops against nausea, but I’m under the impression that it’s worse than that.”

  “Hey, young man,” Owen said gently. “Come with me? I’ll have a look at you and then we can make you feel better, okay?”

  Nodding, the boy took his hand and followed him to an office where Owen closed the door before he sat him down on the couch. Then he took the Bekkaran scanner out and let its beam run over the boy’s body. What he saw made him crease his forehead.

  Then Owen put the scanner away, took the boy and rushed out of the office. He had already passed his mother when he noticed that she was calling after him.

  “Come!” Owen shouted without slowing his run. “We need to get him to a hospital!”

  So it came that the woman was clutching at the door handle and passenger seat when Owen chased his car through Cardiff’s streets. He stopped right in front of the A&E, picked the boy up from the passenger seat and ran inside. His shouts alerted the staff and they took the boy from him, wheeling him off for emergency surgery. For another moment, Owen stood in the hall, staring at the door they had vanished through and tried to process what just happened. He was angry at the other doctor who had not realized that the boy’s pain and nausea were symptoms of acute appendicitis, but then he had to correct himself. _Without the Bekkaran scanner I wouldn’t have diagnosed it either,_ he thought, _at least not in time. Appendicitis is one of those conditions that is notoriously hard to diagnose in young children simply because kids are likely to have stomach aches for any number of reasons._ _If Jack wouldn’t have given it to me... Why did he give it to me? He couldn’t possibly have known, could he? That’s weird. But then again, what is not weird about Captain Jack?_

  The Doctor watched this development with joy. He followed the boy’s life, seeing him grow up. He watched him with his first girlfriend, accompanied him through serving in the army, and saw him study medicine. Stunned, the Doctor watched him on the Millennium Plass as he stood by the water tower, looking around searching. And then he saw Jack. They were talking with each other and went to a nearby bar to have a drink. From then on the young medic started each of his days going in through the tourist office.

  “This Owen must have told him something about how he saved him,” the Doctor mused. “Why else would he go to the water tower? But it’s not such a bad idea. Owen knew that he wouldn’t be with Torchwood forever, and with this boy he has a good successor.”

  The other timelines he was following were not spectacular, but he loved to see the development anyway. Toshiko answered the question successfully and when the others teased her with being a computer geek she gave them a pretty short but effective speech and left.

  Gwen had a lovely and perfectly normal Christmas with Rhys and their parents. There was another big turkey, a Christmas tree, lots of gifts, and Rhys singing Christmas karaoke.

  His hearts grew heavy when the Doctor thought about the near future. First Jack would defeat a giant beast and he knew it would only be his now newfound love and trust that would bring him back after that fight.

  And then he would return to Earth. How it came that Jack accompanied him then lay in shadows. He could not clearly see it. What he knew, though, was that he did not intend to take the captain with him. Still Jack would be with him when he fought his next big fight, a fight the Doctor could not define closer because there were too many variables to assess. It was good that Jack did not know what lay ahead. If he knew he might make other decisions and that should not happen.

  The Doctor sighed. Seeing the future could be a curse. He knew what would happen and he did not like it one bit. Still he would not avoid it just to spare himself the trouble and hurt.

  The clouds in his mind cleared and the Doctor spotted another possible future much farther ahead. He saw the Daleks the ghost of the Master had shown Jack. The captain was fighting alongside the resistance and they really made a difference.

  Then one of his hearts skipped a beat. It needed a moment to get back in sync with its partner.

  Because he knew the man he watched leaving the ruins together with Jack and the other warriors.

  Ianto Jones.

  “Blimey! What is _he_ doing there?” the Doctor exclaimed. “He could never ever live that long!”

  There was no being mistaken. It was in fact Ianto Jones.

  “How did that happen?”

  Then he saw Jack and Ianto kiss and just knew it. Somehow Jack had found a way to share his life energy with his lover. Ianto was not immortal, but the Doctor could sense the same energy in him that he sensed in Jack. The captain seemed to use it to keep Ianto from aging.

  “I don’t think that that’s a good idea,” the Doctor murmured, shaking his head.

  _One possible future,_ he reminded himself. _It’s not certain that it will happen._

  But the uneasy feeling remained.

  Shaking his head ferociously, the Doctor tried to clear it. He needed something more certain now. So he let his mind wander in search of Jack again.

  There.

  That looked good.

  Oh, that really was good. The Doctor really enjoyed what he saw in this timeline, and the best was that this happened right now.

  Then he sat up with a start.

  “No!” he panted. “No, no, no, no, noooooo!”

  Jumping up from his seat, he grabbed his tool box and ran to the box with the chameleon circuit. The TARDIS hummed indignantly when he started to work on it.

  “It’s not permanent,” he assured her. “But you’ve got to help me put something right.”

  The shudder passing through her insides amused him.

  “For a very good friend,” he pleaded with his ship. “I’ll change it back to the police box when we’re done.”

  The TARDIS still was not completely settled down, but she did not complain again as he finished his work on her.

 

xXx

 

  “What is it Gawain?” Enid asked sleepily.

  “I don’t know. I heard something downstairs.”

  Her husband sat on the edge of the bed, listening intently for any unusual sound. Something had woken him and he wanted to know what it was.

  “Must be one of the children,” she murmured and chuckled lowly. “We’re not used to a full house anymore.”

  “Maybe I should still go down and make sure that it’s not a thief.”

  No sooner said than done, Gawain got up from the bed and went for his rifle.

  “Stay here,” he said, but Enid was having none of that. Slipping into her bathrobe, she followed her husband. In the hall, they met Sioned and Meredith.

  “I’ll come with you, Tad,” Sioned told her father.

  _That’s typical,_ Gawain thought. _She always was the more courageous. She’s more like her twin brother._

  So he slowly went down the stairs, first Sioned and then Enid and Meredith on his heels. Down in the hall, he approached the living room. He had reached the door when they heard an ugly crash from outside.

  “Bloody hell?” Gawain shouted and turned to the front door. There was a window in the upper half and he peeked outside. A dark shadow at the gate rose his interest. Wordlessly he put on his boots and shrugged on his heavy and warm coat. A rush of cold air washed into the house when he stormed out a moment later. Sioned followed his example while Enid and Meredith stood by the door, watching what was going on outside.

  “We should go, too,” Enid said, reaching for her coat.

  “Mam, you’re in your pyjamas and bathrobe,” Meredith pointed out unnecessarily. “We shouldn’t go out now.”

  “Don’t be such a funk, Meredith,” she replied, buttoning up her coat. Then she stuck her feet into her high bootleg, felt lined boots.

  Reluctantly her son got dressed, too. Then they followed Gawain and Sioned.

  They met them at the front gate. A car had crashed against it and Gawain was discussing with the driver. He was a lean man with dark hair that stood like unruly spikes. Even though he only wore loafers and a pinstriped suit, he did not seem to feel the cold.

  “Oh, really, I’m alright,” he said, grinning foolishly. “Hope your gatepost did survive.”

  He examined the brick post for damages.

  “Nope, seems to be okay,” the odd man said. “Think I can go my way. Um… why are you all outside here in the snow?” he asked, putting up a confused face. “You must be cold.”

  “Oh, yeah, I am,” Sioned agreed and was the first who returned to the house.

  “Are you really sure?” Gawain wanted to know. “You could come inside with us. You could have a coffee or a cup of tea.”

  “Thanks, but no thanks,” he told them. “I need to get going. I have business meetings and I already got delayed. Thanks for your help, but I have to go now.”

  That said he climbed back into the disguised TARDIS and drove away.

  Following the car with his gaze, Gawain shrugged and, his family close by his side, walked back to the house.

 

xXx

 

  One of Ianto’s heels thumped on the wooden floor, echoing through the house. Jack could feel Ianto shudder with anxiety.

  “Not goooood,” Ianto groaned, biting in his own fist to suppress more treacherous sounds.

  Jack did not let himself be fooled. He knew that he had Ianto where he wanted him. Once more shifting his position, he dove in slowly until he could not get further.

  Ianto’s eyes were wide open as was his mouth. Arching his back, he tried to give Jack full access.

  Then he froze.

  Craning his neck, he peeked around the sofa to the door where he could see the barrel of a rifle ready to be swung around and directed at the would-be burglars.

  _Oh, crap!_

  Ianto was pretty sure that it was his tad, who had heard the thump and had to assume that there were thieves in the house.

  “Who’s there?” he heard Sioned ask anxiously from the hall.

  _Oh no! Not Sioned, not Mam, not anybody. Just go away…_ Ianto rolled his eyes. Jack was not keeping still and even his small movements caused him the most delightful sensations. The tension of the situation added to his excitement. Unable to concentrate on the events in the hall any longer, Ianto lay on the sheepskin, shuddering, clutching at the wool.

  From outside, they heard a crash of metal on stone.

  “Bloody hell?” Gawain shouted and turned to the front door. A rush of cold air washed into the house when he stormed out a moment later.

  _Now that was close,_ Jack thought and looked down at Ianto who was, by now, a quivering mess, and grinned. He thought that the sight was breathtaking.

  No one was trying to get into the living room. Jack could hear them argue in the hall as they slipped on boots and jackets before they went to follow Gawain.

  Jack chuckled and the vibration that caused sent renewed shivers through Ianto. So it did not take Jack much effort to push Ianto over the edge and he followed a few seconds later.

  When he settled down beside Ianto on the sheepskin, Jack whispered close to his ear, “Whatever happened outside saved us. They all went out to see what is going on.”

  “Hope they’re alright,” Ianto murmured back.

  So Jack got up and went to the window to look outside.

  “A car hit the gatepost,” he said over his shoulder. “They are all out there, trying to help.”

  “Then we probably should go back to my room,” Ianto suggested and got up from the floor. “Before they come back.”

  “Why did you do that, Ianto?” Jack complained as he returned to him and saw him standing. “You looked so good on that sheepskin.”

  Wordlessly, Ianto bent down to pick it up, grabbed both their pyjamas and turned to go back upstairs. Laughing, Jack followed him and could not withstand slapping his bare butt as he squeezed past him on the stairs. He pulled the sheepskin out of his hands and burst through the door of Ianto’s room first. Spreading the soft blanket on the floor, he gestured his lover to lay down on it but Ianto took his clothes instead.

  Scowling at him, Jack asked, “What are you doing?”

  “I want to see if I can help Mam and Tad with the stranger.”

  “They didn’t look as if they needed help,” Jack smirked and wrapped his arms around the young Welshman. “I think you can be glad that his accident prevented a pretty awkward situation.” Nibbling his earlobe, he tried to get him down on the sheepskin.

  Ianto resisted.

  “Pretty awkward?” he panted. “Bloody embarrassing would describe it better!”

  “It was exciting.”

  “It was stupid!”

  “You loved it,” Jack teased, doing his best to trip Ianto up.

  “No!”

  “Yes, you did.” Jack smirked lasciviously with the memory of a shuddering Ianto beneath him.

  “No, I didn’t!” Ianto protested, but his voice lacked ambition. Jack’s insistent attempts to get him down on the floor and under his control again started to undermine his defences.

  “The possibility of getting caught turned you on,” Jack murmured against the skin of his neck. Kissing his way up his throat, he forced Ianto to bend his head back. He held him close in a strong embrace, trapping his arms against his body. Jack felt Ianto’s hands on his side and how he struggled to remain standing. Now he had reached the chin and pushed against it until Ianto raised his head again. At once, he assaulted his lips with a crushing kiss.

  _Go down!_ Jack wrestled with Ianto for dominance. _Yes!_

  Caving to the captain’s urging, Ianto let himself be pushed down on the sheepskin.

  “It’s beyond me why we have to be on the floor if we have a bed here,” he grumbled. “Lock the door!”

  “Oh, Ianto! Where’s your sense of adventure?”

  “I don’t want my family to walk in on us!” Ianto hissed, shoving Jack’s hand off his chest. “Holding hands is one thing, but I don’t need them to witness us now!”

  “Okay,” Jack conceded and got up to turn the key in the lock. “Better?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Goooood.”

  Pushing Ianto onto his back, Jack knelt down over him and claimed his lips with a gentle kiss. His hands began to brush over his body and explore every inch of his Welshman. He followed his hands with kisses until he reached his navel. There he blew light raspberries on Ianto’s belly, making him giggle. Jack felt hands claw at his hair in a futile attempt to stop him from the sweet torture.

  “Ooooooh, stop it, Jack! Ooooooaaaah!”

  “You sure?” Jack chuckled, using his right hand to draw his fingernails along Ianto’s side.

  It tickled. Ianto squirmed under Jack’s touches. The captain seemed to know exactly where to find his most sensitive spots and exploited that shamelessly. Unable to help his body’s responses, Ianto wriggled, moaned and sobbed…

  Once more Jack positioned himself between Ianto’s legs. Ianto yelped when Jack hit his most special spot. A moment later they both rode the wave of joy together.

  When Jack settled down beside Ianto on the sheepskin, he murmured into his ear.

  “I love you, Ianto. Merry Christmas.”

 

The End


End file.
